Holofiction. Filmvorführung und Gespräch

In his experimental documentary, Kosakowski has created a new work of his own by editing together archival footage from more than 3,000 fictional films produced worldwide that address the Shoah. At the same time, HOLOFICTION (102 min.) is a powerful artistic examination of motifs and cinematic narratives that have recurred for decades—elements filmmakers have drawn upon when making the mass murder of Jews the subject of a fictional narrative.

Smashed storefront windows, people crammed into trucks, train car doors being shut, abandoned suitcases, barbed-wire fences, leather boots, German shepherds—the sheer volume of fictionalized imagery about the Nazi era is overwhelming. The Holocaust and World War II are among the most frequently filmed events in world history. Director Kosakowski explains in a statement that the starting point for his work on this film was a remark by the French journalist and filmmaker Claude Lanzmann: “Fiction is a transgression. I am convinced that certain things must not be depicted.” (Lanzmann, 1993, on the occasion of the release of “Schindler’s List”).

Tickets available at: www.filmladen.de/programm

Date:

May 21, 2026

Time:

5:00 PM

Venue:

BALi Cinema at KulturBahnhof, Rainer-Dierichs-Platz 1, 34117 Kassel

Organizers:

Department I/1 of the Hessian State Agency for Civic Education, the Königstor Police Headquarters Memorial Initiative, the Breitenau Memorial, the University of Kassel, and BALi Kino

Download the flyer: Here