He witnessed — and filmed — the horror of the Holocaust
In early April 1945, Arthur Mainzer, barely 22, was a United States Army Air Forces cameraman assigned to documenting the war in Europe
In early April 1945, Arthur Mainzer, barely 22, was a United States Army Air Forces cameraman assigned to documenting the war in Europe
The Swedish film “The Last Sentence” opens with a 1933 newsreel of Adolf Hitler strutting as Germany’s new chancellor and ends with 1945 footage of Russian troops closing in on the Führer’s bunker.
The Nazi occupation of most of Europe during World War II and the Holocaust tested the moral fiber not only of the individual citizen but also of entire nations.
Once again, the summer season, noted for youth-oriented blockbusters, manages to include some serious fare aimed at more mature, discerning audiences, including several projects dealing with the World War II era and its aftermath.
The Cannes Film Festival sanctioned director Lars von Trier for his expressions of sympathy for Hitler and Nazis. The festival board of directors on Thursday declared von Trier “persona non grata” and removed him from the festival, but said his current film, \”Melancholia,\” remains in competition.
It\’s in the nearby city of Terezin that one of the most unique, if bizarre stories of the period can be found. And it\’s all captured in the grainy film produced by the Nazis.
I used to think that between the time of the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D., and the birth of Israel in 1948, there was no such thing as an
\nexclusively Jewish city. Sure, there were plenty of Jewish ghettos and neighborhoods scattered throughout the globe, but a city with only Jews in it? I never imagined it.
In this way, Kofman says he is \”unfortunately\” a bit like the anti-hero of his debut feature film, \”The Memory Thief,\” who becomes so obsessed with the grotesque details of videotaped survivors\’ testimonies that he is \”virtually rubbernecking the Holocaust.\”
\”I long for the loss of memory,\” grieves Jakob, the central character in \”Fugitive Pieces,\” a sensitive, at times wrenching, film based on the best-selling novel by Canadian poet Anne Michaels and directed by her countryman, Jeremy Podeswa, the son of Holocaust survivors.
In contrast to the other 45 presentations at the current Polish Film Festival, \”Forgiveness\” is in English with an American cast and set in a contemporary American city. However, the director and storywriter is Poland\’s Mariusz Kotowski, and the film\’s mood is shaped by memories of wartime Poland.