On the morning of January 7th, 2015, the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were attacked, and twelve people were killed. Two brothers affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) carried out the crime, a reaction to Hebdo's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The documentary Tough Being Loved by Jerks (2008) turns back the calendar to 2006, just after the publication of the caricatures of Muhammad, and documents the firestorm of controversy that it provoked. Director Daniel Leconte captured the court proceedings brought against Charlie Hebdo by the Great Mosque of Paris, the World Muslim League and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France. It is a reflection on Islam, on freedom of the press, on the state of public opinion in French society, but also an endeavor to answer the challenges that fundamentalism poses to all democracies. It also stands as a tribute to the courage and principles of the Charlie Hebdo staff, whose lives were taken far too soon.
