Holofiction

This experimental film explores the visual representation of the Holocaust through a montage of thousands of excerpts from fictional films and television series produced between 1938 and the present. Drawing from an extensive archive of over 3,000 narrative works the film critically examines how Holocaust imagery has been codified and reproduced in cinema across decades.
Holofiction exposes recurring visual motifs and narrative patterns that have become iconic in the portrayal of the Holocaust. Inspired by Claude Lanzmann’s scepticism toward visual representations of historical trauma, the film questions the possibility and implications of depicting such an atrocity in fictional cinema. Through an essayistic approach, the audience is invited to reflect on the ethics and responsibility of cinematic storytelling, urging a deeper understanding of how these representations shape collective memory and historical perception.

“Fiction is a transgression. It is my belief that the depiction of certain things is prohibited”. Claude Lanzmann (1925–2018), on the possibility of representing the Shoah in fiction. Taking this statement as a point of departure, my film reconstructs the chronology of the Holocaust through images drawn entirely from cinema. World War II and the Holocaust are among the most frequently portrayed events in film history. It is precisely the tension between Lanzmann’s call for a prohibition and the existence of a vast body of fictionalizations that inspired my research — and led to an experimental film composed of depictions that, in Lanzmann’s view, should never have been made. I have long been engaged with the subjects of World War II and the Holocaust. With Holofiction, I aim to reach especially younger audiences — often distanced from these histories in a world shaped by change and radicalisation. As eyewitnesses disappear, new ways of remembering are urgently needed.
Holofiction is part of the ten-part multimedia project Dark Tourism, exploring remembrance culture through film, photography, and installation.

PRODUCTION 1:
Kosakowski Films - Michal Kosakowski
Brandenburgische Str. 43
10707 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 17661320973
E-mail: michal@kosakowskifilms.com
Web: http://www.kosakowskifilms.com
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/michalkosakowski1/ - Facebook, https://www.instagram.com/michalkosakowski/ - Instagram

PRODUCTION 2:
Atelier Uli Aigner - Uli Aigner
Brandenburgische Str. 43
10707 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 1738532053
E-mail: mail@uliaigner.net
Web: http://www.uliaigner.net
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/uli.aigner.9/ - Facebook, https://www.instagram.com/uliaigner/ - Instagram

WORLD SALES:
Kosakowski Films - Andrea Staerke
Brandenburgische Str. 43
10707 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +33 671265628
E-mail: andrea.staerke@gmail.com
Web: http://www.kosakowskifilms.com

PRESS OFFICE:
Andrea Staerke - Kosakowski Films
Brandenburgische Str. 43
10707 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +33 671265628
E-mail: andrea.staerke@gmail.com
Ulteriori addetti: Uli Aigner - mail@uliaigner.net