Shoah
France • 1985 • 9h 26m
Director
#663Criterion Collection →Synopsis
Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.
Synopsis
Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.
Criterion Closet Pick
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Credits
Crew
DirectorClaude Lanzmann
CinematographerJimmy Glasberg, William Lubtchansky, Phil Gries, Dominique Chapuis
EditorZiva Postec
Cast
Claude Lanzmannas Self - Interviewer
Simon Srebnikas Self
Michael Podchlebnikas Self
Motke Zaidlas Self
Jan Karskias Self
Paula Birenas Self