Screening the Holocaust: Examining the Ethics of Post-WWII Cinema about the Shoah with Dr. Jennie Hirsh

This seminar focuses on the history of postwar cinema connected with the Holocaust, beginning with Alain Resnais' 1955 Night and Fog as a foundational text that established much of the iconography connected with this genre of representation. In addition to thinking about the ethics of representation that frame discussions on holocaust cinema, this conversation will explore more than a dozen films, touching on issues introduced through the language of film, with examples ranging from Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List and Claude Lanzmann's Shoah, as well as more experimental works, such as those by Dani Gal and Yael Bartana, to key documentaries such as Paragraph 175 and A Film Unfinished. 

Led by an expert on art, architecture, and postwar cinema, Dr. Jennie Hirsh, this Conversation will consider the ways in which different cinematic genres have addressed this fraught period in history as well as the ways in which film can offer strategies for both remembering and forgetting. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased understanding of the range of works, from the documentary, essay, and feature films to more avant-garde and artistic contributions that push the boundaries of cinema, and representation, in interesting ways.