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Filmmakers For The Prosecution: Securing The Film Evidence Of Nazi Crimes

Presented by UND Department of Film, Television and Theatre at DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

November 15, 2006

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NUREMBERG: ITS LESSONS FOR TODAY (1947) Directed by Stuart Schulberg NR, 78 minutes Presented by Sandra Schulberg, film producer. (Photo credit USHMM) After the screening, Sandra Schulberg, film producer, and daughter of Nuremberg's director, Stuart Schulberg, will discuss the hunt for the incriminating film evidence used at the Trial and the recently discovered controversies and the political and logistical challenges that dogged the Nuremberg film from beginning to end. NUREMBERG: ITS LESSONS FOR TODAY This rarely seen, controversial Allied documentary about the 1945-46 Nuremberg War Crimes Trial was made to show Germany and the world that the Allies had conducted a fair trial of the Nazi high command. Film evidence played a crucial role. The trial established historic principles -- that following orders is not an acceptable defense for crimes against humanity, and that nations may not embark on wars of aggression without consequence. Although made with U.S. government funding and endorsed by Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, the trial's chief U.S. prosecutor, the film proved controversial. It premiered in Germany in 1948, but the U.S. government prevented its American release. - sponsored by The Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, The Learning Beyond the Classroom Program, The Nanovic Institute for European Studies, & The Henkels Lecture Fund of the Institute for Study in the Liberal Arts. MORE ABOUT THE EVENT The distinguished independent film producer, Sandra Schulberg will present the 78 minute, controversial film, Nuremberg: Its Lessons for Today, the "official" 1947 Allied documentary about the Nuremberg Trial, produced from footage of atrocities shot by the Nazis themselves and recordings of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial itself. Sandra Schulberg is the eldest child of the late Stuart Schulberg, who, as a young Marine Corps officer, was recruited to join John Ford’s Special Photographic Branch and charged, along with his older brother Budd Schulberg (already famous for his fictionalized expose of Hollywood, What Makes Sammy Run?, and later screenwriter of Face in the Crowd, and On the Waterfront) with locating Nazi photographs and films for Justice Jackson to present as evidence at the Trial. Their 4-hour compilation film, composed entirely of photographic and motion picture material produced by the Nazis themselves, was entitled The Nazi Plan, and was presented at the Trial on December 13, 1945. After the Trial, Stuart Schulberg was engaged by Pare Lorentz, Chief of the Film and Theater Section of the War Department’s Civil Affairs Division, to write and produce the official film documentary about the trial, Nuremberg: Its Lessons for Today, which was to be distributed by all four Allied Powers. Although made with U.S. government funding and endorsed by Justice Jackson, the film project became embroiled in political controversies among the four countries and within rival factions of the U.S. government. Contrary to the initial Allied agreement, the Soviet Union made its own version and distributed it in the Warsaw Pact countries. Although finally completed at the end of 1947, the German release of Nuremberg was postponed for political reasons until the fall of 1948, and its U.S. release was entirely suppressed by the U.S. Army. BIO: Sandra Schulberg One of the most productive film producers in the U.S. and Europe, Sandra was a leader of the American independent film movement in the late 70's, when she founded the Independent Feature Project, and created the first IFP Market, now in its 27th year. She co-founded the niche film distribution company, First Run Features, and was one of the first nominators to the Sundance Institute’s Filmmakers Lab, and served on the Sundance Festival Advisory Committee for 5 years. She served on the Board of ITVS (Independent Television Service) for three years, and was a founding board member of the New York Documentary Center and its Docfest film festival. In 1989, Schulberg joined the PBS feature film series “American Playhouse” as Managing Director of international operations. A few of the Playhouse movies on which she worked include: I Shot Andy Warhol, Amateur, Safe, Angels and Insects, Reckless, and Palookaville. In 1994, Schulberg received the IFP Spirit Award for her contributions to independent cinema, and in 2003 the Valerie Award for her body of work as a producer. From 1998 to 2000, Schulberg co-managed one of the better-known German media funds, Hollywood Partners. On behalf of the fund, she served as Executive Producer of and provided financing for Undisputed, the 2002 Miramax release starring Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames; the Oscar-nominated Quills, starring Geoffrey Rush and Kate Winslet, produced with 20th Century Fox; In A Savage Land, Passion, I’ll Take You There, and The Last Yellow. Additional producing credits include Waiting for the Moon (Sundance Grand Prize), Belizaire the Cajun, and Wildrose. She is currently developing a movie based on Ursula LeGuin’s classic novel, The Left Hand of Darkness and collaborating with her uncle, Budd Schulberg, on a book about the use of film at the Nuremberg Trial, entitled The Celluloid Noose. Budd, aged 92, is the sole survivor of the team that assembled the film evidence for the trial. Sandra is raising funds to restore the uncompleted English-language version of the Nuremberg film, and to present it theatrically in the U.S. for the first time. Sandra's films have been showcased and won awards at film festivals throughout the world. Educated at Swarthmore College, Schulberg is fluent in French, Spanish and German.