Screening of Shoah on 27th of January

The French journalist and filmmaker Claude Lanzmann (1925–2018) spent 12 years on making his documentary Shoha (1985). The Hebrew word Shoah which has been used in Israel since 1948, translates into “Catastrophe”, and is the equivalent to the American english term “Holocaust”. Instead of relying on archival footage, Lanzmann took it upon himself to search out survivors and perpetrators of the Holocaust, to get their testimonies on the Nazis’ methodical mass murder of Jews in Europe during the Second World War. And out of 185 hours of interviews and 35 hours of location filming, 9,5 hours was eventually edited into a comprehensive documentary.
 
Upon its world premiere in France in 1985, the French philosopher and writer Simone de Beauvoir wrote about Shoah: “I could never have imagined such an alliance of horror and beauty. Of course, one is not used to mask the other, nor is it a question of aestheticism: on the contrary, it highlights the other with such invention and rigour that we are aware of contemplating a great work. A pure masterpiece.” / Simone de Beauvoir
 
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased the entire Shoah archival material from Claude Lanzmann on October 11, 1996. Since then this material has been meticulously reconstructed, preserved and made publicly available in its entirety. In 2023 Shoah was also inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. The purpose of this register is to work against collective neglect or deliberate destruction of documentarian material which is considered of significant and outstanding universal value.
 
In 2024 The Robert Weil Family Foundation was approached by Folkets Bio to acquire the rights to screen the newly restored version of Shoah in Sweden. And so now: 40 years after it had its first screening in Sweden, 80 years after Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated, and the Second World War ended, Shoah will once again be available to a Swedish audience. To mark its first screening, The Robert Weil Family Foundation, Folkets Bio, The Swedish Holocaust Museum and ABF Stockholm presents Shoah with adjoining talks and lectures about the film. Shoah will thereafter be available for cinemas, schools and institutions throughout Sweden.
 
Quotes
“Shoah is one of the most important documentaries in film history, and the fact that it has now been newly restored and can once again be presented to the Swedish audience feels both important and urgent. Shoah will be presented in its entirety, but also with an updated leaflet and supporting material.” / Folkets Bio
 
“In a time of increased polarisation, where anti-democratic forces are gaining ground, Shoah reminds us of: our own responsibility, that something can always be done, and that we together have the power to change.” / The Robert Weil Family Foundation
 
“The Holocaust is one of humanity’s greatest defeats. By trying to understand and not forget it, we can ensure that it never happens again.” / Calle Nathanson, CEO of ABF Stockholm.

The Association Claude & Felix Lanzmann

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
 
Unesco’s Memory of the World Register