A Film Unfinished

Caught on Tape - An excerpt from a Nazi propaganda film in A Film Unfinished
 
Time Investment: 89 min.
Return on Investment: 80 min.
 
What makes the existence of the Warsaw Ghetto so much more |upsetting, in many ways, than the infamous death camps that ultimately claimed most of its inhabitants is the fact that a semblance of life, however miserable, endured within those stifling walls, giving false hope to throngs of innocent victims who eventually lost it all.
 
In Yael Hersonski’s searing documentary, A Film Unfinished (Oscilloscope Pictures), Nazi-occupied Poland comes back to life as never before through footage shot by the SS in 1942 for use in a propaganda film that was never completed. For years, the footage (found in an archive after the war and labeled simply with the word “Ghetto”) perplexed historians, as it seemed to depict several richer—and healthier— looking Ghetto inhabitants enjoying fancy dinners, attending a grand funeral procession, and more.
 
Thanks to the recent discovery of a vital fourth reel, the truth about these images is unveiled: more than just a simple propaganda film, the Nazi cameramen actually staged false scenes, using pre-selected Jewish participants (obviously) against their will. Multiple takes of seemingly ignorant passersby walking past dead bodies strewn on the sidewalk are now shown for what they really are: images of vile manipulation by the Nazis that only compounds other, more familiar evils. To say that the images of Ghetto faces, crowds and everyday life in this film are haunting would be a gross understatement: at one point the film stock changes to color and the reality of what is displayed becomes too much to bear. —Dan Heching