Basic Info

Release: August 18, 2010

Runtime: 89 min

Rating: ⭐ 6.4/10 (31 votes)

Status: Released

Videos

A Film Unfinished - Official Theatrical Trailer - Oscilloscope Laboratories (YouTube)

A Film Unfinished

2010 89 min ⭐ 6.4/10 31 votes

Overview

Yael Hersonski's powerful documentary achieves a remarkable feat through its penetrating look at another film-the now-infamous Nazi-produced film about the Warsaw Ghetto. Discovered after the war, the unfinished work, with no soundtrack, quickly became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record, despite its elaborate propagandistic construction. The later discovery of a long-missing reel complicated earlier readings, showing the manipulations of camera crews in these "everyday" scenes. Well-heeled Jews attending elegant dinners and theatricals (while callously stepping over the dead bodies of compatriots) now appeared as unwilling, but complicit, actors, alternately fearful and in denial of their looming fate.