In May 1942, a crew of cameramen was sent by the Nazis to document − or rather stage − the daily routine of half a million Jews in the overpopulated and famished Warsaw Ghetto. First discovered in 1954 in a concrete vault that once belonged to the Third Reich, the film simply titled "Ghetto" quickly became an important resource for historians. Later on, a long-missing reel, including multiple takes and cameraman staging scenes, completed the discovery. Director Yael Hersonski and her team interspersed narration and testimonies from a few survivors to create a documentary that exposes the horrors of the Nazi regime and the insanity of its propaganda.
"We became indifferent to the suffering of others. Otherwise it would have been impossible to live." - A survivor ("A Film Unfinished")
"A Film Unfinished" is gut-wrenching, profoundly vital and remarkably humbling. Beyond the obvious history lesson, the harrowing truth of dehumanization is laid bare on the screen. Haunting images of starving men, women and children living in squalid conditions and waiting for death to bring them repose alternate with fictionalized and unreal scenes of Jewish urbanites enjoying themselves in restaurants or at home. And in between, five survivors confronting their own painful past decades later in the darkness of a theatre. Five human beings who found the will to survive and can finally start to let go.
"I am no longer immune," says one of them as she watches dead bodies sliding down a communal grave. "I am so happy because I can cry. I feel human again."
"A Film Unfinished" deserves its accolades − Best International Feature (2010 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival) and World Cinema Documentary Editing Award (2010 Sundance Film Festival. It is a major achievement and the most powerful documentary I have ever seen.
Director: Yael Hersonski.
Producers: Noemi Schory and Itay Ken-Tor
Editor: Joëlle Alexis
Cinematographer: Itai Neeman
Music: Isahi Adar
Sound Design: Aviv Aldema
For more information, visit the official Website.
Warning: The documentary contains scenes that are unsuitable for younger audiences.
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Cendrine Marrouat is a freelance writer/reviewer, blogger, published author and translator living in Canada. Official Website: http://www.cendrinemarrouat.com
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