After several sold-out Greater Boston area screenings, a documentary featuring Holocaust testimonies over 25 years old, unseen by the general public, comes to the Criterion Cinema New Haven on Thursday, May 17, 2018

 

More than 80 hours of witness interviews, conducted by Lawrence L. Langer, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Holocaust testimonies have never been seen by the general public. Now they have been finally thrust into the spotlight with the documentary film Soul Witness, The Brookline Holocaust Witness Project. In 2017, The film sold-out the 432 seat Coolidge Corner Theatre’s main playhouse within a few days of the release of its trailer and has sold out several screenings in the Great Boston area since.

 

A special screening of the film will be shown at the Criterion Cinema on Thursday, May 17, 2018 at 7:00 PM. It is intended for a general audience with an advisory for children under 13.

 

The documentary features a collection of interviews of Holocaust survivors, conducted in the early 1990s, which are part of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University. Witnesses describe their lives before the war, growing intolerance; their lives during the war and the affect their experiences still had on them at the time of the interviews. Some of these witnesses survived death camps, some hid, others fought in resistance movements and many saved the lives of others.

 

Mark Skvirsky, Vice President and Chief Programming Office, Facing History and Ourselves on the film, "This film is important both for the stories that survivors share, but also for the way their voices are presented. The structure and tone of the film "humanizes" these individuals who might otherwise be perceived simply as victims."

 

Following the film, the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University will sponsor a question and answer period with the film’s writer, director and producer R. Harvey Bravman.

 

Director R. Harvey Bravman on the film, "These interviews contain some of the most epic and noble words I’ve ever heard. The stories and lessons from those who survived this unimaginable tragedy and who bravely shared their experiences years 25 years ago provide an important message for our society. In many cases they talk directly about issues of intolerance, racism and genocide, as well as their immigrant and refugee experience.”

 

Jenny Amory, Executive Director of the Brookline Community Foundation said, "We are very moved by Harvey Bravman's work and see this as an incredibly important film”.

 

Sponsored by The Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven

 

More information on the film can be found at https://soulwitness.org.