JIFF: Shoah - Part 2

JIFF: Shoah - Part 2

“An extraordinary accomplishment. By far the greatest film ever seen about the genocide of European Jews.” – The New York Times

“Perhaps the most important piece of historical cinema we possess.” – Times UK

“One of the noblest films ever made.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Australian Premiere

This nine-hour epic is one of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time, newly restored digital print for its 40th anniversary.

Twelve years in the making, Shoah was born from director Claude Lanzmann’s concern that the Holocaust was fading from the collective memory, a mere 40 years after World War II ended. To counteract this, he patiently and persistently filmed interviews with survivors, bystanders and perpetrators across 14 countries about what they witnessed and experienced during the Holocaust.

Notably, Lanzmann resisted using any archival material, preferring instead to juxtapose interview footage with shots of key Holocaust locations as they appeared in the present – train tracks overgrown by grass and shells of buildings in bucolic landscapes.

Simultaneously epic and intimate, this monumental masterpiece redefined not only documentary filmmaking, but also public perception of the Holocaust more broadly. In 2023, UNESCO added the restored 35mm negative of Shoah to the Memory of the World international register.

JIFF presents the Australian Premiere of the 4K restoration of Shoah across two parts. Watch Part 1 & 2 back-to-back or on different days. Tickets for each part are sold separately.

Shoah - Part 1, here.

Rating

Unclassified 15+

Duration

308 min

Country

France

Language

French, English, German, Hebrew (English subtitles)

Director

Claude Lanzmann