Eighty years after Elie Wiesel’s family was deported to Buchenwald during World War II, ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE explores the complex man, Nobel Prize winner and writer of “Night,” his celebrated and searing memoir of survival and a rubric of Holocaust history. This poetic and powerful portrait explores various sides and conflicting information about Wiesel, the nature of memory and ultimately his larger-than-life legacy as humanity’s witness. Wiesel’s astounding moral clarity and outspokenness endure today as clarion calls for shared responsibility. Using Wiesel’s personal archives, recent interviews with his wife and son and exquisite animation, the film interplays his many roles; as survivor, educator, writer, public intellectual and celebrity—all in service of his human rights and Holocaust advocacy with world leaders on the global stage.
Rudavsky smartly fuses Wiesel’s own words, interviews and exquisite hand-painted animation. Centering on Wiesel’s courage and devotion to teaching the lessons of history, SOUL ON FIRE advances his legacy, inspiring audiences of all ages and faiths to realize our shared responsibility to humanity.
Director Bio: View on IMDB
Oren Rudavsky produced, directed and cowrote the American Masters documentary JOSEPH PULITZER: VOICE OF THE PEOPLE which was nominated for a Critics Choice Award. His film A LIFE APART: HASIDISM IN AMERICA (SJFF 2008) was shortlisted for an Oscar and broadcast on PBS in 1997, and his film HIDING AND SEEKING (SJFF 2004) was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. In 2006, Rudavsky completed THE TREATMENT, a narrative feature starring Chris Eigeman, Sir Ian Holm and Famke Janssen.
Sponsors: Lucy and Herb Pruzan, Betty Lou Treiger
Community Sponsors: Holocaust Center for Humanity, Music of Remembrance
