21 May 2006
A daylong symposium on feature films and the Holocaust will take place at Yad Vashem tomorrow, Monday, May 22, 2006. The symposium marks the opening of the new Visual Center at Yad Vashem. It is a joint effort of Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research, and Sapir Academic College and the Visual Center. The symposium is made possible through the generous support of the Gertner Center for International Holocaust Conferences.
The symposium will focus on the representation of the Holocaust in feature films produced in Hollywood and Israel. It will take place in Yad Vashem’s Auditorium from 09:15 - 19:00 and is open to the press in coordination with the Media Relations Department (02 644 3410). All lectures will be in Hebrew, except for Prof Baron’s (Session I), which will be in English.
The symposium is divided into three sessions:
- Session I: 9:30 - 12:45: “Hollywood and Holocaust Representation”
Chair: Prof. Dan Michman, Chief Historian of Yad Vashem
Greetings: Prof. Zeev Tzahor President of Sapir Academic College and Dr. Robert Rozett, Director of the Libraries at Yad Vashem.
Screening: Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (Daniel Anker, 2004)
Lectures: Prof. Lawrence Baron, Nasatir Professor of Modern Jewish History and the Director of the Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies at San Diego University, (in English), and Dr. Ilan Avisar, Tel Aviv University. - Session II: 14:00 - 16:00: “The Holocaust through the Israeli Lens”
Chair: Avner Fainguelernt, Director of the Television and Cinema Arts Department, Sapir Academic College
Presenters: Ariel Feldestein, Sapir Academic College, “We’re Filming War Here: the Image of the Survivor in Films on the 1948 War”; Dr. Yvonne Kosolevksy-Golan, Sapir Academic College, “The 81st Blow, The Visual Narrative of Holocaust Survivors in Israeli Cinema”; Dr. Yael Munk, Open University, “The Return to German Soil: The New Israeli Cinema Facing the Memory of the Holocaust.” - Session III: 16:30 - 19:00: “Israel and Germany 2004: Unfinished Business”
Chair: Prof. David Bankier, Head of the International Institute for Holocaust Research and Incumbent of the John Najmann Chair of Holocaust.
Screening: Walk on Water (Eytan Fuchs, 2004)
Panel Discussion: Dr. Aner Preminger, of Sapir Academic College and Hebrew University, and Dr. Jeannine (Levana) Frenk, Yad Vashem.
Yad Vashem’s Visual Center opened to the public in November 2005. The Visual Center is dedicated to creating the world’s most comprehensive resource of cinematic work related to the Holocaust. The Center will encourage research about this important subject and integration of this medium into educational projects. The Visual Center collects, catalogues and offers viewing facilities for Holocaust-related films of all genres including testimonies. It also provides access to Yad Vashem’s extensive resources. The Visual Center, part of the new museum complex, operates in coordination with the Yad Vashem Library.
