We Are Always In Progress
AFTER: Bringing the Dead Back to Life - a Feature Film
Can poetry bring the dead back to life? Poets perform works about the Holocaust and discuss what it means to write in its aftermath, illuminating poetry’s role in a world that is witnessing a resurgence of nationalism and violence and still grappling with the legacy of genocide.
AFTER’s cinematic approach showcases poetry and highlights the responsibility of poets to look into the abyss and create. Cinema and poetry combine and sometimes transcend — both as a cautionary notice and lyrical exploration in a world fraught with both great peril and promise. The Shoah still has much to teach: the past is not simply in the past, rather it is an important part of the present and future. AFTER, a feature length documentary, is a passionate, personal sojourn into the stories told by poets, Jews and non-Jews alike, from those who experienced the Shoah and their descendants to those with no direct connection who are haunted by it. While viewers do not see the devastation, AFTER acknowledges there are no easy answers for the Shoah.
Israeli writer and survivor Aharon Appelfeld stated, “After the death of the last witnesses, the remembrance of the Holocaust must not be entrusted to historians alone. Now comes the hour of artistic creation.”
Now is the time for AFTER.
We are living in a moment of profound transition in Holocaust memory. As survivors die, remembering will depend less on their presence than their stories and the wisdom they contain, which will survive beyond them. As the next generations assume responsibility for sharing the Holocaust narrative, we need innovative ways to transmit the moral lessons, insights, and wisdom that can be gained through remembering.
To discuss teaching about the Holocaust, a poetry reading, a writing workshop, or to book a screening, please contact me.