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Matinee: Two Creative Clips Share This on LinkedIn   Tweet This   Forward This

13 May 2023

Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?

So we're pleased to present the 500th in our series of Saturday matinees today: Witness and An Audio Testimony.

Both short films were commissioned to mark the 90th anniversary of the Wiener Holocaust Library in London, which is the world's oldest Holocaust archive.

Library trustee and filmmaker Jonathan Glazer said he "was struck by the high quality of the ideas." He added, "both groups have made films that come from a place of absolute sincerity. You can't take this subject on lightly, you have to think carefully about who and what you're representing." He said he was deeply impressed by both projects.

Indeed.

We present them both here with short descriptions to celebrate their uncommon creativity in dealing with a well-trod but sensitive subject.

Witness is a 1:13 short directed by Katia Lom that shows burned photographs of victims of the Nazi regime turn from ashes to prints again as names flash in the middle of the screen only to stop at one. Peter.

And where the film had focused on stills of victims, it ends with video of Peter, a survivor.

Lom said, "These important archives are not only essential because of the vital information they hold, but they become a place of commemoration and reflection. Although they're amazing for research, you can also come and remember and reflect on your loved ones."

In this 1:39 video by filmmaker James Alexandrou, objects from the Library appear on cue to form an audio waveform of the voice of Leon Greenman, an Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor.

"As we hurtle towards a world of advanced chatbots and deep fake AI video generators, it struck me how vital original testimony is and that an archive such as the Wiener Holocaust library is preserved and exposed to the world as much as possible," Alexandrou said. "It's been a privilege finding a voice like Leon's and telling a tiny part of such an important story."

We found both works just brilliant both in concept and execution. We're happy to share them with you here.


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