The Silence of the Archive: Roundtable Discussion of A Film Unfinished

Yael Hersonski's A Film Unfinished (Israel/Germany, 2009) interrogates a body of archival footage shot in the Warsaw ghetto in May 1942 under the Nazi propaganda machine. The film also incorporates interviews with the cinematographer of the original footage, survivors’ responses, and reflections on the Nazi construction of images of Jewish life in the Ghetto. It won the Best International Documentary Award at Hotdocs 2010, as well as the Documentary Editing Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2010, and was screened at the Berlinale 2010, Panorama official selection.

To conclude Hersonski’s visit to the University, following the screening of her film (Doc films, April 28) and a workshop with students and faculty (on Friday, April 29), the Film Studies Center hosts a roundtable discussion with Hersonski, Tom Gunning (Cinema and Media Studies), Noa Steimatsky (Cinema and Media Studies), Julia Adeney Thomas (History, University of Notre Dame), and Johannes von Moltke (Germanic Languages & Literatures and Screen Arts & Cultures, University of Michigan). The roundtable discussion will begin at 8:30pm, preceded by a light reception at 8:00.

Yael Hersonski is an Israeli documentary film director and editor, currently based in Tel-Aviv. A Film Unfinished is her first feature-length documentary. Hersonski edits both documentary and fiction drama series for Israeli television.