Shoah

The state of Israel had commissioned Claude Lanzmann to direct a two-and-a-half-hour long documentary, scheduled to be concluded within an 18-month period and tasked with presenting the Holocaust tragedy from the Israeli standpoint. As he delved deeper and deeper into his quest, Lanzmann gradually broke away from the initial intentions and devoted himself wholeheartedly to a sacred mission, offering humanity a priceless document that exceeds the boundaries of documentary, cinema, and art. Shoah, a shattering 566-minute journey, carries the viewer to the darkest pages of the 20th century's most appalling tragedy. Lanzmann dedicated 11 years of tireless work for the completion of the film, conducting innumerable interviews with concentration camp survivors, ex-Nazi wardens and officials, and eyewitnesses, very often putting his own life at risk. Divided into four distinct chapters, which focus on the extermination camps of Treblinka, Chełmno, and Auschwitz, as well as the Warsaw Ghetto, Shoah distances itself from the Holocaust documentary “canon,” as it abstains from the use of archival footage. Juxtaposing the shocking testimonies with modern-day shots from the martyrdom locations, Shoah urges the viewer to get emotionally and mentally entangled with the Holocaust horror, while addressing an always up-to-date warning for the future.