In 2013 Claude Lanzmann received the Honorary Golden Bear for 'Lifetime Achievement' at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. It was the first time that a documentary filmmaker received this honor from the Berlinale.
Since 2013 Claude Lanzmann is a member of the 'Documentary Branch' of the 'Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS).
Napalm (2017) is his first and only documentary about North Korea. Lanzmann first visited the reclusive state in 1958 and returned four times after that.
Author, journalist at Les Temps modernes, he was a longtime friend of Sartre and de Beauvoir, he is the older brother of Jacques Lanzmann.
He was made a Commander of the Légion d'honneur in 2006 and promoted to Grand Officer in 2011.
He was the son of Paulete (Grobermann) and Armand Lanzmann. His family were Eastern European Jewish immigrants to France.
France gave him a national homage at the Invalides on 12 July 2018.