In Oren Rudavsky’s new film, the conscience of the world speaks to a new generation
Elie Wiesel’s life and work continue to shape how we think about memory, morality, and survival. In his new documentary Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire (currently playing at IFC), acclaimed filmmaker Oren Rudavsky explores the Nobel laureate’s journey from Holocaust survivor to global conscience. Through archival footage and intimate interviews, Rudavsky captures Wiesel’s unwavering voice speaking out against indifference and injustice. Book and Film Globe asked Rudavsky about the challenges of portraying such an iconic figure, the personal and political dimensions of Wiesel’s legacy, and why his warnings about silence and forgetting remain as urgent today as ever.
BFG: Why Elie Wiesel now? (How long has this film been in the making?)
Table of Contents
- BFG: Why Elie Wiesel now? (How long has this film been in the making?)
- Was it daunting to take on the task of portraying the life and legacy of a Holocaust survivor, Nobel Prize winner, and man who was widely seen as the world’s conscience?
- Why did you choose to show animation over Wiesel’s narrative? And how did you find Joel Orloff to do it — I’d only heard of his Pink Floyd video ?
- The Bitburg sequence was surprisingly long, what did it show?
- There was a lot of testimony of his students, he was a self-identified teacher and he taught in Boston for 40 years. How did you find and choose the students to talk to?
- I’d never heard of Boschki (professor of religious education at the University of Tübingen and a student of Wiesel).
- Were the taped recordings he played of Wiesel the first time these recordings have been shared publicly?
- Is there any other footage or audio you use in the film that has not been publicly seen before?
- You filmed a class of students at a Newark middle school reading Nightit looks like you were there for a number of weeks — how long were you there, what brought you there, what did you want from that sequence?
Was it daunting to take on the task of portraying the life and legacy of a Holocaust survivor, Nobel Prize winner, and man who was widely seen as the world’s conscience?
Every film is daunting. My task was made easier by having the family’s blessing and cooperation and having the personal archives of the Wiesel family available to me. Also of course, the wealth of audio and video we were able to uncover made our task somewhat enviable. I was honored to have this ambitious project thrust into my lap. What a gentle soul and powerful personality, who is a healing voice people are deeply craving. And I think audiences who hear his words are comforted. His struggles were both personal and universal and the intimacy of the film invites audiences in to share his remarkable evolution. What a gift he was for previous generations and what a consolation he is for our own generation.
Why did you choose to show animation over Wiesel’s narrative? And how did you find Joel Orloff to do it — I’d only heard of his Pink Floyd video ?
The Bitburg sequence was surprisingly long, what did it show?
Bitburg speaks to a turning point in Elie Wiesel’s life where he spoke his truth to the American President Reagan about his proposed visit to a German cemetery where, it turned out, there were a few SS troops buried. He spoke gently but strongly and publicly as well as privately and became an international figure who then continued to speak out on numerous human rights issues. It is long but to my mind necessary — it is of central significance as it mirrors current struggles to protest against those in power, struggles which in the short run one may lose, but to my mind not in the long run. We see quite clearly Wiesel’s power as a speaker with eloquence and grace.
There was a lot of testimony of his students, he was a self-identified teacher and he taught in Boston for 40 years. How did you find and choose the students to talk to?
Wiesel’s personal assistant for many years Martha Hauptman was invaluable in pointing me to many of Elie Wiesel’s students including Sonari Glinton, Reinhold Boschki and Ingrid Anderson.
I’d never heard of Boschki (professor of religious education at the University of Tübingen and a student of Wiesel).
Reinhold is an amazing person to have found. He has devoted his teaching life to Elie Wiesel. Wiesel and he shared a unique relationship as mentor and mentee and of course the fact that Reinhold is German had special meaning for them both as well. It’s a theme buried in the film — or perhaps not so buried! — related to what Wiesel said in his Bitburg speech, “the sins of the fathers are not cast upon the children.” Elie sought reconciliation with the German People — though not by laying a wreath in a cemetery where SS troops were buried.
Reinhold used some of his recordings in a book he wrote based on them but the actual recording have not been heard.
Is there any other footage or audio you use in the film that has not been publicly seen before?
I don’t think anyone has heard the audio or seen the video of Reagan and Wiesel in the Oval office. That was an amazing find which we knew we had to use. The audio recording was very bad but we were able to save it and improve on it.
You filmed a class of students at a Newark middle school reading Nightit looks like you were there for a number of weeks — how long were you there, what brought you there, what did you want from that sequence?
I spent five long sessions at the school and there is a wealth of wonderful material. A teacher at the school Todd Levine, led me to Paris Murray, the master teacher who taught the students. I got much more than I wanted from the sequence. Teaching the next generation was very important to Elie Wiesel and these students are the next generation.
