Holocaust Cinema Since 2000

Depictions of the Nazi Genocide and National Identity

Aiming to understand the ways in which depictions of the Nazi genocide relate to the societies that produce them, Holocaust Cinema Since 2000 combines detailed analyses of films such as The Unknown Soldier (2006), Waltz with Bashir (2008), and Inglourious Basterds (2009) with a comprehensive understanding of political events in Israel, Germany, and the US, to explore the relationship between post-2000 Holocaust Cinema and formations of national identity.

Despite continued concerns about the aesthetic choices used to represent the crimes committed by the Third Reich, and, more specifically, how this informs the cultural memory of these events, the production of Holocaust films has increased exponentially since the end of the Second World War. Gary Jenkins demonstrates that, in their challenging of the dominant values that underpin such formations, a number of recent Holocaust films reveal a crisis in collective identity in these three countries.