Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (NR)

synopsis

This is the riveting story of the American film industry's complex and fascinating response to the horrors of Nazi Germany. Utilizing carefully selected excerpts from extraordinary and in some cases rarely-seen films, and told through the first-hand accounts of the directors, actors, writers, and producers, the film covers some of Hollywood's most important movies, including "The Mortal Storm," "The Great Dictator," "The Search," "The Diary of Anne Frank," "The Pawnbroker," "Judgment at Nuremberg," "Sophie's Choice," and "Schindler's List." The film takes us from the American ambivalence and denial during the heyday of Nazism, through the silence of the post-war years, and into the present day. It asks hard questions: about the uneasy relationship between American popular culture and the Holocaust, about the responsibility of filmmakers in their portrayal of history, and about the power of film itself to affect the way we look at ourselves.