About the Film:
Capturing the complex relationship of Auschwitz survivors with the serial tattoos they were branded with by the Nazis, NUMBERED is a visually striking meditation on perhaps the most powerful symbol of the Shoah.
Some 400,000 Auschwitz concentration camp prisoners were permanently marked with dehumanizing numbers, a perpetual reminder of wartime trauma. Through a compilation of interviews paired with beautiful black-and-white portraits, filmmakers Dana Doron and Uriel Sinai discover that the tattoos take on different and paradoxical meanings for each survivor: for some the numbers confer shame and indignity, while for others they are badges of honor and resilience. Most controversial, some Holocaust descendants reveal the extreme and intensely personal decision to tattoo a relative’s number on their own arm or ankle as a tribute and reminder to “never forget.”
An affecting testimonial of the physical and emotional scars of the Holocaust, NUMBERED received the Silver Hugo award for Best Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Genre: Documentary
