The Accountant of Auschwitz
The Accountant of Auschwitz is a Canadian documentary film, produced by Ricki Gurwitz and Ric Esther Bienstock and directed by Matthew Shoychet.[1] The film centres on lawyer Thomas Walther's prosecution in the 2010s of former Schutzstaffel agent Oskar Gröning, focusing in part on the ethical debate around whether there's any useful purpose to be served in prosecuting an elderly man for crimes he committed 60 years earlier.[2]
| The Accountant of Auschwitz | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Matthew Shoychet |
| Produced by | Ric Esther Bienstock Ricki Gurwitz |
| Written by | Ricki Gurwitz |
| Music by | Ken Myhr |
| Cinematography | Luke McCutcheon |
| Edited by | Ted Husband |
Production company | Good Soup Productions TLNT Productions |
| Distributed by | Aqute Media |
Release date |
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Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
The film premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in 2018,[3] and later had a brief theatrical run before airing on Documentary Channel.
The film won four Canadian Screen Awards at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020, for Best History Documentary Program or Series, Best Editorial Research (Ricki Gurwitz), Best Visual Research (Ricki Gurwitz), and Best Music in a Non-Fiction Program or Series (Ken Myhr).[4] It was also nominated, but did not win, for Best Editing in a Documentary Program or Series (Ted Husband) and Best Direction in a Documentary Program (Shoychet).
References
- Kate Taylor, "Review: The Accountant of Auschwitz is an informative, thought-provoking doc". The Globe and Mail, June 7, 2018.
- Chris Knight, "The Accountant of Auschwitz asks if it's okay to prosecute a Nazi". National Post, June 7, 2018.
- Jordan Adler, "Film on Oskar Groening trial to premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto". Canadian Jewish News, April 26, 2018.
- Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Non-Fiction Winners Revealed". ET Canada, May 25, 2020.