简介：TheArtofRemembrance:SimonWiesenthal,byHannahHeerandWernerSchmiedel,isadocumentaryaboutamanreveredasoneofthegreatJewishhumanitariansofthe20thcentury.RaulHilbergandotherintellectualsalsoperceivehimasaphilosopher,althoughhisprimaryworkformanydecadeswastheinvestigationofNazicriminals.Inasocietywhich,sincetheHolocaust,haslargelyacceptedrepressionofitsownhistory,rememberingappearsasanart,asanever-repeatingnecessaryprocesswhichpermanentlybordersonsocialtaboo. ThusSimonWiesenthal,inhiscapacityassurvivor,describeshismissioninrelationtothosemurderedas"rememberingasaduty";hegiveshislifetotheserviceoftruth.For"anyonewhodeniesthecrimesandgenocideofthepastisopeningupthewayforthemurdersofthefuture". Thefilmmakers,HannahHeerandWernerSchmiedel,weregivenunprecedentedaccesstothispioneerofthehumanrightsmovement,despitehishecticschedule,andspenttenyearsproducingandfilmingthisnon-fictionbiography.TheytraveledwithWiesenthaltoeightdifferentcountries,includingHolland,France,Sweden,Germany,Austria,Ukraine,Israel,andtheUnitedStates.ThefilmtracesWiesenthal'slifefromhischildhoodinGalicia,EasternEurope,throughhisordealsinNaziconcentrationcampstohispost-wardedicationtokeepingalivethememoryofthosewhodidnotsurvivethegenocide.Wiesenthal'scolleagues,friends--andenemies--offerinsightsinnumerousinterviews,interwovenwithinnovativevisualandauraldocumentarytechniques. AccompanyingextensiveconversationswithWiesenthalhimselfareinterviewswithU.S.ColonelRichardR.Seibel,liberatoroftheMauthausenconcentrationcampinAustria;MarkWeitzmanoftheSimonWiesenthalCenterinNewYork;RaulHilberg,professorofPoliticalScienceattheUniversityofVermont,whowasforcedbytheNazistoleaveAustriain1939;Paris-basedAttorneySylvieCorrin-Zyss,whosefathersurvivedthedeathcampatAuschwitz;andmanyothers. "Whilewedonothavetheopportunitytoaltertheworldinagrandway,weallhaveplentyofopportunitiestocontributetowardspeace,tospeakoutagainstprejudice,racismandagainstanti-Semitism.Thereforetheopeningsequence,whichistheprologuetoourfilm,showssuchanopportunitytospeakoutandtoavoidtobean'accomplicebysilence'."--HannahHeer…