Denial

I deliberately went to see 'Denial' without reading up about the film, or the facts about David Irving or Deborah Lipstadt.

Moment Magazine

What greeted me was a whole host of emotions in a film about the 1996 libel suit in which David Irving accuses Penguin books and Deborah Lipstadt - who, in her book 'Denying the Holocaust' wrote that 'David is a liar, racist and extremist' - of slander and a conspiracy to debunk his reputation.

I'm a young ambassador for HET, a charity dedicated to educating young people and empowering teachers with knowledge of the holocaust and highlighting the roles of the ordinary people that lived to see it and experience it. We speak regularly on the subject alongside survivors and try to be visible both in our communities and online.

I have often, during my time as an ambassador been named on social media as 'part of the conspiracy'. In 2014 for example, myself and two young colleagues ran a 10km to raise money for the charity and were met with direct Twitter comments including this one (pictured). I, like Deborah, struggle to separate my emotions when comments like this are made. In fact, twitter is an engine that has given voice to many more deniers than before were heard. During the launch of a London exhibition early last year, I was asked via Twitter if holocaust survivors would be present - quite an innocent question it seems, until I did some digging and found that the user was in fact a holocaust denier who has previously directly targeted survivors.

Over Facebook I also received a direct message, as a result of a post I'd written about the rise of the far right in Greece with parties such as the Golden Dawn with a view to championing multi-cultural society. It might not be holocaust denial in this instance, but a direct attack on the very foundations of a society that values the lessons we have learned from it. I think this response speaks for itself...

I've received direct messages like this since my work began at 18 and it is sad that we must be so vigilant.

The film 'Denial' did highlight the question of what to say to these deniers. Do we stay silent and let the facts speak for themselves? Or do we give in to our emotions and respond? Can we be educated enough to do both? There are many of my peers I believe could be one day - but none of us can ever be armed with enough, can we?

There were more parallels than this though. Young lawyer Laura Tyler stays up late into the night incessantly working on the case, much to the annoyance and intense misunderstanding of her partner who managed to sum up what many peers have thought of me and my work as an ambassador and probably of Lipstadt too.

The Telegraph

They have asked me, 'isn't it time to let the past be the past', say 'you're obsessed', ask me 'why do you even care, you're not Jewish' and tell us there is 'more to life than the holocaust'. But in the same room the question has been uttered 'What is the holocaust?'. For me, it is impossible NOT to involve myself in the continuance of holocaust awareness and education. Because once you have looked truth in the eye, walked the rubble and ruins of Jewish cemeteries and visited Auschwitz, you cannot live with a version of yourself that is silent. I cannot be uncaring, I cannot forget, and I cannot deny that it ever happened.

Denial wasn't just about the libel suit, but the absolute passion for truth, that the holocaust HAPPENED. It was about speaking against all prejudices and facing denial in all it's forms, from bedroom-denouncings to outright racism.

odeon.co.uk

I've been to Auschwitz and 'Denial' managed to capture the exact essence of the place that remains through some respectful film-making - although I am sure that many early mornings were needed to find the place so empty. From the shoes and suitcases of Auschwitz 1 to the endless rows of barracks and razed crematoria at Birkenau. Upon my visit I did not cry but since then, I have come to consider many holocaust survivors I work with, as friends or extended family even. To see that place again, was as though I was seeing it through fresh eyes, and I cried. (This helped me to gain some idea of why some second and third generation survivors cannot bring themselves to know their family stories in detail). The stillness of the shots, the mist, the coldness of the image, the quiet - it was exactly the eerie place I remember. Somewhere you can almost feel the past vividly. 

The film reflects and values this experience. It also asks us to be vigilant in our analyses and critique those who claim to be experts in the field but he film above all, champions that the truth is ultimate. The outcome of the case was as it should be, and Deborah and her legal team can indeed say that the voices of the victims were heard as justice was done.

EveningStandard

The fact that posters for the film were defaced with anti-Semitic comments and drawings here in London, tell us exactly why it's important to show it at present. The fight against denial did not end when Lipstadt and her team won the case. It continues today and is rife in social media. What comes next is up to us but it's important I think that we take from the film, that truth is ultimate. Do not deny truth. Be someone that fights for it. 

time.com

Ida (2013)

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'Ida' was a wonderfully understated coming of age, discovery story. From acclaimed Polish-British director Pawel Pawlikowski we were thrown back to 1962 with black and white footage and a recovering post-war Poland. Ida is about to take her vows as a nun having been raised in a convent before meeting her only surviving relative and discovering that she is in fact Jewish and that all of her family are dead. Ida narrowly escaped the same fate, being only an infant and unidentifiable as Jewish and so, Ida and her aunt, set off on a journey to find out what happened to their relatives and what it means for them.

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There are a few stylistic choices within the film that I'm not sure I understood. For example, the many shots framed so that the action took place right at the bottom of the screen with five times the head room above it. I'm not sure what it was symbolising, was it the masses of information they still had to find out about their family, was it to make our characters seem small in a much bigger world, was it the weight of what lay ahead of them pushing down on them, or was it just an artistic choice? Who knows, but it was an interesting new perspective.

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The power of 'Ida' was more in the silences than in what is said. The script is subtle, the emotion hidden, it is left for us the audience, to determine. It does not over indulge in moments. We never see the reaction from the elderly man that hid their family after he has been accused of killing them. We never revisit his son whom killed the family once he has shown Ida and her aunt where they were buried. We don't dwell too long on missed moments which is remarkably innovative in a film where these moments of discovery are the motives of our two main characters.

filmweb.pl

Similarly though, I'm still not sure if I liked this or if I hated it, but we don't dwell on the fact that we never really know anything about the family. Only that they were Jewish, they were hidden in a barn and then killed in the woods. We instead dreamt up the personalities of our victims for ourselves. But perhaps Pawel Pawlikowski was making a post-war statement, that no-one remembered who our victims were before they became victims. The generation and identity of so many, was lost. We can draw whatever meaning we wish from the films stylistic choices and subtlety, and I think that is perhaps why I like it so much. You could watch it in a cinema and everyone could take away something different. It's nice to have a bit of ambiguity on screen for a change.

 The only part of the film I was frustrated by, is not knowing. We don't know what goes on inside Ida's head. We don't ever hear her vocalise her reactions, even as she mourns and belatedly takes on her aunts advice and experiences life before she vows to sacrifice it. But the final scene doe not give anything away. She walks towards the convent, we think, and will now take her vows...but will she? What will become of Ida? I wanted to know!

We may never know, but the subtlety and haunting nature of 'Ida' will stay with me for some time. I will definitely watch it again soon, to see what more I can decipher from the silence.

Behind the Fence

'Behind the Fence' is a 12min Polish documentary with no voiceover nor narration. But it doesn't need either to be brilliant.

Film-maker Marcin Sauter manages to capture on film some of the best moments of childhood. Through merely observing, we are allowed to assume our own narrative whilst being treated to the gentile nature of children and their devotion to discovery, learning and determination.

A particular favourite moment is when the young girl is dressing herself. She shows such determination in trying that it's almost infectious. I couldn't help but feel a smile spread across my face and a will for her to complete her task!

In reading Barry Hampe's 'Making Documentary Films & Reality Videos' he speaks often of the need for visual representation of the story. He says that images should speak as images alone, without the need for narration and this film not only illustrates but proves his point, innocently and beautifully.

The film is available to view for free here: http://dafilms.com/download/key/PR0JqK6Cdx
So why not give it 12mins of your time?