Shoah (Second Era)

"Why revisit Shoah 25 years after it was first released? Because it matters more a quarter century on, just as it will matter even more in a hundred years…"—Boston Globe

This epic documentary (12 years in the making, over 9 hours in length, and now re-released on the occasion of its 25th anniversary) changed the way we think about the Holocaust. Featuring interviews with survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators from across Europe, mostly Poland and Germany, Shoah is drawn from over 300 hours of contemporary conversations with these witnesses, along with footage of overgrown sites of unspeakable horrors, including the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

The monumental film grew out of Lanzmann's concern that the genocide perpetrated only 40 years earlier was already being forgotten. In response, he relied entirely on accounts from witnesses, rather than historical footage or reenactments, sometimes resorting to hidden cameras or other deceptions to tease or coax stories and memories from those with whom he spoke.

We're showing Shoah in two sections in a rare big-screen opportunity to experience this unforgettable and remarkable film for yourself. Today's screening is the "Second Era" (292 mins., 35mm). (Last Sunday we showed the "First Era.")

The "Second Era" chronicles memories of the changing horrors at the death camps in later 1942 and 1943, as precise, efficient methods replaced earlier, more piecemeal or primitive efforts. The witnesses Lanzmann interviews also recall the impact of news about the extermination camps reaching people outside of the camps, including those in Jewish ghetto of Warsaw. One of the final interviews is with a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943.