Should I re-edit Shoah?

it is not disrespectful, but it changes the message and how it is received.

Just wondering: what language would you want to put the subtitles in?

One of the major things about Shoah is the translations and whose words are used, how to an English speaking audience the words are changed twice. By doing this you reduce the clarity of where the words come from and people may assume that the subtitles were done by someone from a different time and not associated with the project. In actual fact the subtitles are a translation of the interpreter, not of the person being interviewed, so you would need to get an accurate translation of that.

So, hopefully you can see that by doing this you would change much about the film. I have tried to keep the response as short as possible.

I watched Shoah in its entirety a few months ago and thought it was very good as it is. I did notice that there was quite some time taken up with the translating aspect of the dialogue, but the strengths of this is that it (a) allows you to study the face of the interviewee for a longer time period, and (b) it gives the listener more time to consider the content of what is being asked/answered. Another benefit would be (c) that people who understand more European languages have their own opportunity to translate what they hear for themselves, although I speak a limited amount of French (and no Polish/German etc) so could only gain a limited benefit from this myself.

Take your time, think it over - and do it by all means if you feel like it.

"Shoah" is not about being accessible, quite the opposite actually, but you can come up with your own vision that, while different, might be powerful on another level.

I don't know who you are if you have an official role with this production or if you are talking about editing an mp4 file and uploading onto youtube or something like that.

My opinion?
The length does make it inaccessible to many, cutting out translations is only a partial solution.

I never watched the entire length but I fell in love with the few hours that I did see. I can tell you what I liked if that motivates you to capture the essence for a smaller version.
1. I liked the approach that the interviewer took with talking to the people who were actually there and having them describe the small detail of camp operations, not just the big stuff. When someone seamlessly describes the small details it lends credibility to their story and I think this is the greatest way to debunk Holocaust deniers. It becomes obvious that this guy was a concentration camp guard, a town resident, an officer, a survivor, etc and that these are not made up stories.

2. I would probably take the approach of eliminating most of the segments, after all, how many guards, officers, townspeople, engineers, survivors do you have to talk to before you get the idea.

Things that made an impression on me, hearing an officer, guard describe the practical aspect of killing and disposing of a massive number of bodies. It was like a light bulb went off as to why they went to gas chambers and cremation. Up til then it was always presented as some kind of Nazi fetish.

Disrespectful. When I sat down to watch Shoah on PBS years ago, I thought, 9+ hours? Please. But after I'd watched it all, I felt 9 hours was if anything too short. The Holocaust was an event of epic magnitude in world history. Lanzmann's documentary is now a priceless record of what happened because we hear the words of those who saw it unfold: the few Jewish survivors, the Poles, the Germans involved, so many people. Many if not most of those he interviewed have now passed on. So regardless of its length, Shoah's value as a historical record has only increased.


Tout homme a deux pays, le sien et puis la France.

So let me get this straight... you're gonna redit it... and then what? Distribute it to the masses? How? By what means?

The film is not alive. It won't feel disrespected, however you distributing a film that you don't hold the copyrights to is illegal. This would essentially be a 'fan edit'. You're not going to be allowed to put it on Youtube, or any other means.... Perhaps, those are the obstacles you should be paying attention to first, rather than disrupting the sanctity and integrity of the film.

Generally, i don't see the value of fan edits, unless you are doing something really creative... actually changing the context of a film to provide something new.

All that effort, you'd may as well make your own film rather than leech off someone else's lifework.

Go for it!

Respectfully:
No, you shouldn't re-edit Shoah.

By messing with the subtitles you risk inaccurate transpositions / translation, which means doubtful viewers who understand Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, etc. might think it's a phony documentary. Veracity is the main reason for letting the people speak and then having a translator speak, and having this chain of communication all on film (video & audio).

Nobody has really asked for a "more accessible" version of Shoah anyway.