In collaboration with the French Embassy in Ireland and School of Philosophy in UCD, the IFI is delighted to present this rare screening of Shoah, Claude Lanzmann’s epic documentary on the Holocaust.

The film took 11 years to make; the first six devoted to the recording of testimony across 14 countries, and a further five to edit down a remarkable 350 hours of raw footage into the final 9-and-a-half-hour version. While the film eschews emotive archive footage in favour of a straightforward talking heads style, it is still a harrowing, extremely powerful piece of work.

While the survivors’ stories are as chilling as one would expect, it is Lanzmann’s interviews with those who staffed the camps that truly horrify, confirming what Hannah Arendt famously termed “the banality of evil”. 

Part Two, May 12th, 12.00 (286 mins, includes 30-minute interval)

Part Three, May 13th, 12.00 (140 mins)