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A Film Unfinished

Play trailer Poster for A Film Unfinished 2010 1h 29m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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98% Tomatometer 65 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Israeli director Yael Hersonski examines a recently found film reel from an unfinished Nazi movie entitled "Das Ghetto" in this award-winning documentary. For decades, historians have relied on "Das Ghetto" as a portrayal of life in occupied Warsaw and this new footage provides rare insights into one of the biggest propaganda machines of all time. Hersonski uses personal journals and accounts as well as an interview with a surviving cameraman to re-examine this dark cinematic relic.
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A Film Unfinished

A Film Unfinished

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Critics Consensus

A heartbreaking, haunting historical document, A Film Unfinished excavates particularly horrible chapter of Holocaust history, and in doing so, the film provides a glimpse into the Nazi propaganda machine.

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Critics Reviews

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Chris Chang Film Comment Magazine 11/13/2013
a new and uniquely disturbing perspective on the Shoah Go to Full Review Cliff Doerksen Chicago Reader 01/04/2011
Filmmaker Yael Hersonski reshapes the impossibly vile and tragic source material into a devastating record of Nazi criminality. Go to Full Review Marc Savlov Austin Chronicle 12/03/2010
4/5
It's impossible to watch A Film Unfinished and not feel haunted by the restless ghosts of history and those who tried -- and failed -- to use film to tell a lie. Go to Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 10/06/2022
A Film Unfinished bears witness to a horrifying spectacle but you have to see it to be convinced of the inconceivable limits to which hatred can lead when it ferments into fanaticism. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Felicia Feaster Charleston City Paper 01/22/2020
A Film Unfinished is an otherwise necessary deepening of our understanding of the Holocaust and an illustration of the power of film, which can elucidate reality or shroud it in layers of deception and prejudice. Go to Full Review Ian Buruma The New York Review of Books 11/05/2018
The impact of A Film Unfinished is surely sufficient proof that, even in our media-saturated age, filmed images can still move our feelings, if not necessarily create a better world. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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12/04/2017 Netflix still has the dvd rentals and it (and the Romeo Public Library) have an incredible library of dvd. This heart breaking, disturbing movie is made from a Nazi film of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 before it shuttered and the Poles & Germans Jews were sent to be killed. It was to be propaganda piece showing that life for the Jews in the Ghetto was just fine. It was never used or released and was found a few years ago and released with interviews of some survivors shown watching the movie. Very very tough going. See more 08/07/2016 An incredible film, this historical account of the Warsaw Jewish ghetto in 1942 really stark in contrast to many of the portrayals I've l seen before. Disturbing recollections of ghetto residents and one of the cameramen add context to the visuals. I appreciate the efforts of the resident diary keepers and historians whose words survived to dispel the attempted efforts of the nazi propaganda machine. See more 08/14/2015 The footages of unfinished Nazi propaganda made into a documentary about the horrifying life of Jews in Warsaw Ghetto. See more 11/03/2014 The Germans filmed this as propaganda against the Jews, but it has become a heartbreaking and haunting historical document in Holocaust history. I found it difficult to watch at times. See more 06/08/2014 Just terrible what happened. Hope lessons can be learned, Pure evil. See more 06/26/2013 La mas cruel y estremecedora muestra de la propaganda Nazi, con imagenes nunca antes vista de la vida en los guetos que muestra hasta donde era capaz de llegar el regimen Nazi con tal de crear la mas grande mentira de la historia mundial. See more Read all reviews
A Film Unfinished

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Cast & Crew

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Yael Hersonski

Director

Yael Hersonski

Screenwriter

Itai Ken-Tor

Producer

Noemi Schory

Producer

Joel Alexis

Film Editing

Itai Ne'eman

Cinematographer

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A Film Unfinished

A Film Unfinished (2009) A Film Unfinished (2009) A scene from "A Film Unfinished." A Film Unfinished (2009) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Israeli director Yael Hersonski examines a recently found film reel from an unfinished Nazi movie entitled "Das Ghetto" in this award-winning documentary. For decades, historians have relied on "Das Ghetto" as a portrayal of life in occupied Warsaw and this new footage provides rare insights into one of the biggest propaganda machines of all time. Hersonski uses personal journals and accounts as well as an interview with a surviving cameraman to re-examine this dark cinematic relic.
Director
Yael Hersonski
Producer
Itai Ken-Tor, Noemi Schory
Screenwriter
Yael Hersonski
Distributor
Oscilloscope Pictures
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
German
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 18, 2010, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Aug 20, 2010
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 24, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$311.5K
Runtime
1h 29m
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