Filming taking place at the Library

A still from the short film, ‘Witness’

To mark the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Library’s predecessor organisation in Amsterdam, we are kicking off a year of events and activities with the launch of two very short films, commissioned to mark this important year for the Wiener Library, the longest continuously running archive of documents on the Nazi era and the Holocaust in the world.

Inspired by the stories that the Library’s family papers’ collection contain, Director Katia Lom has created Witness, a powerful reflection on the impact of the Holocaust on families and individuals.

Director James Alexandrou was struck by the breadth and depth of the Library’s collections, and the power of the voices of those recorded in our audio oral histories, and he has created a dynamic visual and auditory representation of our archive in An Audio Testimony.

James said of the project: “As we hurtle towards a world of advanced chatbots and deep fake AI video generators, it struck me how vital original testimony is and that an archive such as the Wiener Holocaust library is preserved and exposed to the world as much as possible. It’s been a privilege finding a voice like Leon’s and telling a tiny part of such an important story. Thank you for the continued guidance from the Library, Venetia and the National Film and Television School, and to our Exec, Jonathan Glazer”.

Award-winning writer-director Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin; Sexy Beast) mentored the filmmakers during this project.

Both films have been produced in association with the National Film and Television School.

With thanks to:

Venetia Hawes

AJR Refugee Voices Archive and Bea Lewkowicz

Witness

Director: Katia Lom, Producer: Shereen Ali, Featuring: Peter Briess

An Audio Testimony

Director: James Alexandrou, Producer: Emma Hanson, Featuring: the voice of Leon Greenman