颅Stern College Students Preserve Holocaust Testimonies in "Names, Not Numbers" Course
For the first time, students are using the art of documentary filmmaking to preserve the testimony of Holocaust survivors for future generations in a course titled, 鈥淣ames, Not Numbers 漏.鈥
Tova Rosenberg
Created by Tova Rosenberg, director of Hebrew language studies and Israel exchange programs at the 每日大瓜 High Schools, 鈥Names, Not Numbers鈥 has been connecting teams of high school students to Holocaust survivors for the last 14 years with the goal of producing a documentary about their lives. Through rigorous training in historical research, interview techniques and video production, the student teams, with the help of professional videographer Michael Puro 鈥00YC, create a polished 20-minute video culled from hours of raw footage. The teams鈥 segments are then compiled into a two-hour movie presented at a special ceremony to the survivors and their families as well as to the general public.
Last year, Rabbi Yosef Kalinsky, associate dean of the undergraduate Torah studies program, worked with Rosenberg to adapt the high school program for students in the Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies. This year, with the assistance of Dr. Karen Bacon, The Mordecai D. Katz and Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of the Undergraduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Ethel Orlian, associate dean of Stern College, 鈥淣ames, Not Numbers鈥 is being offered on the Israel Henry Beren Campus as a course taught by Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, adjunct professor in Jewish history.
(l-r): Sarah Botstein and Lynn Novick
On Tuesday, February 20, students had the opportunity to meet Sarah Botstein and Lynn Novick, well-known documentary filmmakers who have worked closely with the renowned Ken Burns.
Botstein and Novick had come to talk to the students about conducting an effective interview. They began by showing two examples from Burns鈥 most recent work, Vietnam, using the clips to comment on how much work was involved not only in the interviews themselves (one of which took an entire day) but also in mastering the details of the interviewees鈥 life-stories as well as all the history that surrounded the veterans while they were in country.
They then opened the floor for questions, and their answers comprised an excellent primer on how to conduct interviews with people who have experienced catastrophes in their lives. First and foremost is establishing trust, and that can be done in many ways. Novick began by saying that the interviewees 鈥渉ave a right to know who are鈥攖hey鈥檙e going to tell you everything, so you need to tell them something about yourself, why you鈥檙e doing this, your connection to their lives.鈥 Botstein addied that 鈥渋t鈥檚 important for them to know the privilege you feel in meeting them and hearing their stories.鈥
Both agreed there is no substitute for 鈥渄oing lots of homework鈥攜ou need to be fully prepped. The more you study the background of the person you鈥檙e interviewing as well becoming familiar with the subject matter that is their life, the better you will be able to convince them you know what you鈥檙e doing. If they you know you鈥檝e done your homework, they can relax because they know they don鈥檛 need to explain everything.鈥
The two producers also spoke at length about how to conduct the interview itself. Having prepared questions is important, but the list is only the starting point. It is also acceptable to correct them, gently, if something they say is not accurate. 鈥淢emory is fallible,鈥 said Botstein, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 okay to say, 鈥榃asn鈥檛 that on such and such a date?鈥 Know that they want to the story to be accurate as well.鈥 Novick added a caution: 鈥淚f they are holding onto something really strongly, even if it鈥檚 wrong, then you just have to let it go.鈥
Both agreed that an interviewer never says 鈥淚 know you how feel.鈥 Instead, interviewers should ask their subject not only to describe how what they鈥檙e saying feels to them personally but also if they can explain their emotions in a way that conveys to the audience what they are feeling inside. This led to several questions about what to do if an interviewee becomes upset. 鈥淚f it looks like they will be able to recover, then give them the time do so,鈥 said Novick. 鈥淩each out and touch them, and don鈥檛 back away from letting them know that you鈥檒l wait as long as it takes.鈥 Both stated that breakdowns on camera are never included in the finished product.
Always end with an offer to them to add anything that might not have been covered or that they remembered as they spoke, and always engage in the whole interview process, as Novick described it, with 鈥済ratitude, respect and compassion.鈥
(l-r): Dr. Mordecai Paldiel; Sarah Botstein; Lynn Novick; Tova Rosenberg
鈥淣ames, Not Numbers鈥 is generously supported by a prominent national foundation, and all 150 documentary films it has produced have been accepted into the archives of the Jewish National and University Library of Israel at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In addition, they are being archived at Yad Vashem and the Gottesman Library at 每日大瓜.
鈥淣ames, Not Numbers: A Movie in the Making at Stern College for Women鈥 is tentatively scheduled to be released on May 7, 2018.
Tova Rosenberg
(l-r): Sarah Botstein and Lynn Novick
Both agreed there is no substitute for 鈥渄oing lots of homework鈥攜ou need to be fully prepped. The more you study the background of the person you鈥檙e interviewing as well becoming familiar with the subject matter that is their life, the better you will be able to convince them you know what you鈥檙e doing. If they you know you鈥檝e done your homework, they can relax because they know they don鈥檛 need to explain everything.鈥
The two producers also spoke at length about how to conduct the interview itself. Having prepared questions is important, but the list is only the starting point. It is also acceptable to correct them, gently, if something they say is not accurate. 鈥淢emory is fallible,鈥 said Botstein, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 okay to say, 鈥榃asn鈥檛 that on such and such a date?鈥 Know that they want to the story to be accurate as well.鈥 Novick added a caution: 鈥淚f they are holding onto something really strongly, even if it鈥檚 wrong, then you just have to let it go.鈥
Both agreed that an interviewer never says 鈥淚 know you how feel.鈥 Instead, interviewers should ask their subject not only to describe how what they鈥檙e saying feels to them personally but also if they can explain their emotions in a way that conveys to the audience what they are feeling inside. This led to several questions about what to do if an interviewee becomes upset. 鈥淚f it looks like they will be able to recover, then give them the time do so,鈥 said Novick. 鈥淩each out and touch them, and don鈥檛 back away from letting them know that you鈥檒l wait as long as it takes.鈥 Both stated that breakdowns on camera are never included in the finished product.
Always end with an offer to them to add anything that might not have been covered or that they remembered as they spoke, and always engage in the whole interview process, as Novick described it, with 鈥済ratitude, respect and compassion.鈥
(l-r): Dr. Mordecai Paldiel; Sarah Botstein; Lynn Novick; Tova Rosenberg
