“Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire” (2024) at the 32nd Annual Hamptons International Film Festival
Director Oren Rudavsky discusses the lasting impact of Holocaust survivor and storyteller Elie Wiesel.
A moving and profound portrait of its title subject, Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire traces the self-described storyteller's life as a witness of the Holocaust, his time as a writer and advocate of bringing injustice to the forefront, and his continuing impact in the present, even after his passing.
Wiesel was born in 1928 and authored several works based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, with his most famous book being 1956's "Night." This documentary uses a culmination of mediums to tell his story: hand-painted animation, archival footage, vérité material, as well as interviews, which producer Tal Mandil said "helped us move between different pieces of the story. Moving between those visual mediums helped us see Wiesel's internal world and his life as a public figure."
Soul on Fire is a biography of Wiesel but isn't as traditional as other historical documentaries. To enhance the film's inclusion of recordings of Wiesel's own voice to tell his story, director Oren Rudavsky uses a combination of visual techniques to bring the narrative to life. Rudavsky has been making films since the 1980s about a variety of subjects, with most of his work generally being about education and social issues. It's his experience with some Jewish topics that prompted the Wiesel family to invite him to helm the film, sharing with him themselves and their archives. Rudavsky grew up in Boston, where Wiesel taught at the university level, so he was aware of Wiesel's presence and his remarkable legacy.
"It's an intimate film," Rudavsky said at the Hamptons International Film Festival, where the documentary made its world premiere on October 5. "You're hearing Elie Wiesel's voice and that's what brings you into the story. We purposefully tried to use his voice when he's personally talking to people one-on-one. We also used his speeches but our main approach — which was very important to Wiesel — was the one-on-one, talking to somebody else. He was very close to his students and made a point of seeing each and every one of them on a regular basis, even though he had thousands of students over the years, and he made deep impressions on everybody he met."
Although Wiesel passed away in 2016, the film makes a point of showing that his impact persists, transcending cultural, geographical and generational barriers, with scenes featuring his grandchildren, former students, Wiesel-reading groups in Germany and New Jersey charter school students. What's perhaps most respectable about the film comes with the latter example, in which seventh-grade students are shown analyzing "Night" in class. The students offer unique interpretations of the work and the Holocaust itself in a true testament to the knowledge young students can exhibit if they're encouraged to think critically. This scene — which audibly struck the festival's audience — represents the enduring message of Wiesel's teachings, primarily that of promoting discourse about subject matters that may be dark but are nevertheless human experiences.
"When [Wiesel] was younger, he used to think that the Messiah would come and the world could be redeemed," Rudavsky continued. "But as he got older, he realized that what's even more important and more possible was the one-on-one with another person, and if you could make an impression on just one person, you can help save the world. The other main belief he had was the importance of witnessing. He believed in speaking to and about survivors of any sort of trauma, not just about Jewish causes like the Holocaust but about human trauma and how to overcome it. It took him many, many years himself, and I don't know if he ever truly overcame his trauma, but he also believed in speaking truth to power."
Despite being seen by many as a spokesperson for witnesses of the Holocaust, Soul on Fire doesn't shy away from Wiesel's vulnerability, particularly with his wounded faith in the years following the war. "I did not divorce God," Wiesel says in the film, and the documentary's focus on how he continued to develop all throughout his life speaks volumes to his ongoing struggle with his own trauma, in part leading to his advocacy for other individuals to speak up.
It was never the goal of Wiesel to be a sole representative for Holocaust survivors; he wanted everyone to understand that their suffering did not define them but that it could still inform and be used as a tool. This is emphasized in the first seconds of the film, as it opens with a quote of Wiesel's: "When you listen to a witness, you become a witness." In Wiesel's classes, the liberating space he created to talk about sensitive issues and memories made students more open to sharing, with a former student noting that he modeled an approach of listening and responding. To go further, a Black student of Wiesel's explains in the film that Wiesel's work in "Night" and general philosophy also extended to non-Jewish communities such as the interviewee's own.
"I hope that audiences hear his message of speaking up when you see injustice, and to understand the power of friendship and speaking to one another," Rudavsky said. "[Wiesel stated] think higher, feel deeper, and he really strove in his life to honestly encounter the world and his fellow human beings."
Rudavsky's engaging approach makes for an incredibly captivating film that values humanity above all. As stressed by Wiesel, sharing memories — positive or negative — with others offers a more tangible understanding of lived experiences, especially those dealing with heavy emotional burdens. The variety of ways the film's messages are presented makes it impossible not to connect to the stories and philosophies in one way or another, and the beauty of the film comes through both visually — with kinetic animation that feels alive even in black-and-white — and in the words of those speaking in the eye-opening archival footage and interviews. Empathy as a means of acceptance is one of Wiesel's tenets and the film truly feels like a continuation of his advice, delivered just as humbly as Wiesel's own words in speeches and conversations.
10/9/24 - Screened at the 32nd Annual Hamptons International Film Festival