The Oscars revive interest in the definitive documentary about the Holocaust

Adam Benzine with Claude Lanzmann (Photo: JTA)

Will ‘Lanzmann’ finally win an Academy Award? 

"An interview with Adam Benzine, the young first-time director whose award-winning take on the famed, veteran filmmaker is up for an Oscar on Sunday, 28 February" by  Lisa Klug,  Times of Israel, February 27, 2016

The first major documentary about the filmmaker, entitled “Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah,” is among the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards, which is broadcast live from Los Angeles on Sunday evening, February 28.  

The superbly-crafted film from first-time director Adam Benzine explores the arduous 12-year journey that led to the creation of Lanzmann’s landmark documentary, “Shoah,” and reveals for the first time the countless challenges the French iconoclast faced in making the film.  

“It didn’t relieve me from anguish,” Lanzmann says. “I think it is the other way around. I have made the film but the film made me. I lived all these months after the end of Shoah like a bereavement as a matter of fact. It took me a very long time to be able to recover.”  

The 40-minute project explores how making “Shoah” nearly — and repeatedly — cost Lanzmann his life. Benzine says the film evokes strong audience response.  

“To sit in a darkened room and watch people cry as the watch your work, it’s a very moving experience,” says writer, producer and director Benzine, 33, who is not Jewish. “Cinema has a tremendous power to unify, and I think that’s very important with the way the world is at the moment.” 

Museum of Tolerance's Liebe Geft interviews Adam Benzine

In the 40-minute film “Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Holocaust," director  Adam Benzine explores the seven years of filming and five years of editing required to produce “Shoah,” Lanzmann's 9½-hour documentary which attracted widespread acclaim.

Adam Benzine takes JooTube inside his producing of the film- which is nominated for an Academy Award in the category for Documentary (Short-Subject).  In addition to theatrical showings, it has been broadcast by BBC and will be shown in the US on HBO in May.  Adam Benzine, spoke with JewTube on International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2016 about his effort.

Adam Benzine in conversation with Liebe Geft (director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles) on the making of "Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah." Mr. Benzine also answers questions presented by the audience.