The Last Great Synagogue of Auschwitz

This is a unique digital film capturing the history of the last remaining synagogue and Jewish citizens' artefacts to survive after the Holocaust in the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in Poland.

Developed, produced and directed by Associate Professor Fiona Graham this short film aims to create new knowledge using digital film methods and new narratives about the locations in and around Auschwitz. Engaging with communities and contributors in Poland, Fiona gained film access and signed consent permissions to create and manage all content to distribute to mass audiences including schools, museums and broadcast and online platforms.

This is an example of the output created by the HEIF funded project for the Producer, Fiona Graham which was also shared for a new online platform (funded separately and created by Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls). Both Fiona and Caroline have interdisciplinary methods employed as part of their separate research as members of the Centre of Archaeology at Staffordshire University.

The film which was created in Poland, aims to archive the last remaining synagogue and its artefacts using digital film.
Industry production methods were tested and applied to create a business model of Production House where all rights and ownership as well as filmed access and content belonged to the Producer and Production House.
All images and materials have legal permissions granted for film distribution for Production House, Staffordshire University. The images include stills of the Jewish community of Oswiecim and possessions and artefacts which were found during the Holocaust. The film also uses aerial footage created by the Producer working with a Polish film crew employed during the production in Poland, again all rights of materials have been legally agreed.

The aim of the film was to capture and create new content which is relatively unheard of by communities outside of the location and allows the public to understand the site visually from anywhere in the world.

The work was funded by HEIF for the research called Production House of which Fiona is the Director at Staffordshire University. Students and staff were also engaged in this project in the UK including level 4 and 5 film students.