A Film Unfinished

Cast & Crew

Yael Hersonski

Director

Yael Hersonski

Screenwriter

Itai Ken-Tor

Producer

Noemi Schory

Producer

Joel Alexis

Film Editing

News & Interviews for A Film Unfinished

Critics Consensus: Vampires Suck Bites

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Critic Reviews for A Film Unfinished

Audience Reviews for A Film Unfinished

• Feb 19, 2012

  There have been many incomplete films relegated to the dutsbins of oblivion. What separates the subject of "A Film Unfinished" is not its simple title of "The Ghetto" but its subject matter, that of the Warsaw Ghetto in May 1942, shortly before its liquidation, containing about an hour's worth of footage(some shot in color) commissioned by the Nazis that was forgotten for decades in East German archives. For me watching the footage is like watching ghosts while providing insight into the horrible conditions inside the ghetto. It is very emotional for survivors to watch it, looking for people they once knew amongst the footage, some of it staged to give the appearance of affluence. As one survivor puts it, they did not have flowers and if they did, they would have eaten them. So what was the purpose of the footage shot? We know it was propaganda, of course, but without any narration or soundtrack, it is hard to know for sure what the point was since that could change the meaning of what we see, even with the testimony of one of the cameramen.(A neat little trick I learned from Screen Studies 101.) And it is also hard to say what footage was intended for a completed film.(Like a lot of filmmakers, the Nazis used multiple takes.) Some survivors thought the film was made to give a negative portrait of the ghetto while I think the Nazis were intending to give the indication of a thriving and vibrant community to cover up any claims of the awful deed they were about to commit since they were not exactly open about the slaughters they committed.
  

  walter m Super Reviewer
• May 05, 2011

  The most depressing documentary that everyone should watch.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Mar 17, 2011

  I'm not sure which was harder to watch...this film, or the extra feature "Death Mills". "Death Mills" is an actual short film directed by Billy Wilder for the U.S. War Dept in 1945. The short film was originally intended for screening in occupied Germany and Austria to show the people in those countries what horrors they supported. It was the first documentary to show what the Allies found when they liberated the camps: the survivors, the conditions, and the evidence of mass murder. This was eventually shown in the U.S., but was rarely done so. This short film alone made this a memorable watch.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Sep 15, 2010

  Some films transcend filmmaking or entertainment and just ARE important and valuable and necessary. This is one of those rare and true finds. Literally. Discovered in a vault in East Germany after WWII were reels of silent footage filmed by Third Reich cameramen in the Warsaw Ghetto. Interspersed amongst the images of the massive amount of suffering are staged "scenes" of Jews in more luxurious settings (parties, lavish dinners, etc.). Wealthy-appearing Jews were also forced to walk carelessly by those who were starving or dead in the streets, to demonstrate how callously the Jews behaved. Holocaust survivors are shown this footage, and it is their reactions that prove to be the most haunting images in this film. A modern-day interview with one of the cameramen from that time adds yet another layer to what could have been a very dry documentary. While not the most rigorous of docs on this subject (it could have used a little more background exposition), it resonates greatly, especially today, where so-called "Reality" shows are more carefully written and staged than most fictional narratives. The lines between truth and fiction are so blurred these days, this vital filmgoing experience is a jolt of the reality we NEED to see.
  

  glenn g Super Reviewer