In 1975, while making his landmark Holocaust documentary Shoah, Lanzmann interviewed Benjamin Murmelstein. Age 70 and living in exile in Rome, Murmelstein was the only surviving “Jewish Elder” appointed by the Nazis to run the “model ghetto” camp at Theresienstadt, Czechoslovakia. Murmelstein’s interview wasn’t included in the film, but it’s the focus of this compelling postscript. Condemned after the war as a collaborator, he explains the terrible accommodation he had to strike with a murderous regime. Lanzmann returns to sites that marked Murmelstein’s wartime experiences and uncovers their savage history, but it’s the intelligent, witty, courageous Murmelstein who provides the film’s most compelling testimony. Comparing himself to Scheherazade from The Arabian Nights, Murmelstein survived, he tells Lanzmann, because he “had a story to tell.” (220 mins.)
Sponsored by the French American International School and TV5Monde.
THE LAST OF THE UNJUST screens Sunday, February 16 at 1pm at World Trade Center as part of the 37th Portland International Film Festival.
Tickets can be purchased online here.
ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL DETAILS
The 37th Portland International Film Festival hosts screenings at the Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium inside the Portland Art Museum (1219 SW Park Avenue), the Empirical Theater at OMSI (1945 SE Water Avenue), Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Avenue), Cinemagic (2021 SE Hawthorne Boulevard), World Trade Center (121 SW Salmon Street, 1st Street, Building 2), and Regal Fox Tower (846 SW Park Avenue).
Over the last 37 years, the Festival has populated its schedule with diverse and innovative films for an audience of more than 38,000 annually from throughout the Northwest. As Oregon’s largest, most culturally diverse film event, the Portland International Film Festival pulls together a multi-faceted experience with 128 films and special events presenting a full spectrum of features, documentaries, shorts, and visiting artists – and featuring submissions for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and works by both returning masters and emerging talents.
This year’s Festival includes the return of the popular PIFF After Dark program, showcasing midnight movies like Ti West’s (THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL) THE SACRAMENT and Ari Folman’s (WALTZ WITH BASHIR) THE CONGRESS for adventurous festival attendees. Contained within the PIFF 37 lineup is a sizable animation block with seven animated features on offer, including THE APOSTLE, MY MOMMY IS IN AMERICA AND SHE MET BUFFALO BILL, and the latest film by Portland-born animator Bill Plympton, CHEATIN’.
Other highlights of PIFF 37 include screenings of Tsai Ming-Liang’s (WHAT TIME IS IT OVER THERE?) STRAY DOGS, Rithy Panh’s THE MISSING PICTURE, Doug Pray’s (HYPE!) LEVITATED MASS, François Ozon’s (SWIMMING POOL) YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL, Jillian Schlesinger’s MAIDENTRIP, Alain Guiraudie’s STRANGER BY THE LAKE, Anthony Chen’s ILO ILO and Claude Lanzmann’s (SHOAH) THE LAST OF THE UNJUST.
FULL SCHEDULE
The full PIFF 37 Program is available to the public online at http://festivals.nwfilm.org/piff37/.
ADVANCE TICKET OUTLET – Mark Building, Portland Art Museum, 1119 SW Park Avenue
Daily from 12-6 p.m.
Advance tickets by phone at (503) 276-4310
Advance tickets online at http://festivals.nwfilm.org/piff37/.
Admission Prices: $11 General; $10 Portland Art Museum Members, Students, Seniors; $8 Silver Screen Club Friends, Children Opening Night: $25 general; $20 Silver Screen Friend and Portland Art Museum and OMSI Members
The Portland International Film Festival is sponsored by The Oregonian, Regal Cinemas, LAIKA, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Alaska Airlines, Wieden+Kennedy, Delta Airlines, James F. Marion Miller Foundation, and many others.
The Northwest Film Center is a regional media arts organization offering a variety of exhibition, education programs, and artist services throughout the region. The Center presents a program of foreign, classic, experimental, and independent works year-round at the Whitsell Auditorium, located in the Portland Art Museum. For more information, visit http://www.nwfilm.org.
