Night Will Fall
classified 15Please note: This was screened in April 2015
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information's Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis' unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman - and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock.
Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved for reasons of post war diplomacy, and it is only now, 70 years on, that it can be seen after being restored and completed by the Imperial War Museum. This eloquent, lucid documentary by André Singer (executive producer of the award-winning The Act of Killing) tells the extraordinary story of the filming of the camps and the fate of Bernstein's project, using original archive footage and eyewitness testimonies. It goes without saying this film is beyond heartbreaking, and never less than totally compelling.
With an introduction from Professor Tim Cole, University of Bristol.
Presented in partnership with Bristol Festival of Ideas and Bristol Holocaust Memorial Day.