Do Not Abandon All Hope Here

Dehumanization vs. Redemption in Documentary Film as Responses to Genocide

by Jared Howard

When we talk about war, it is then followed up with talks about the need for resolution, peace, democracy, freedom, and equality. Especially within the 21st century, we understand the need for equality and freedoms in a world that is riddled with poverty, hunger, war, and genocide. To be honest not much has changed. And it is evident in these films. Act of Killing and Night and Fog address both war and genocide as horrific acts of mankind in a way to educate us about the causes and effects of genocide - generally and personally - and inspire us against war, genocide, and fascism. These two documentaries use different approaches to accomplish these similar goals. Night and Fog uses an expository approach, while Act of Killing uses heavy participatory and observational approaches. One thing that Act of Killing does that Night and Fog does not is to humanize the perpetrators of such atrocities, giving a sense of sympathy, hope, and renewed sense of humanity, even in the unlikeliest of humans.

There are many ways educate the public about historical events within documentary. With something as terrible as genocide, Night and Fog did a good job at juxtaposing the current state of Nazi concentration and death camps with its use as fully-fledged hubs of death and horror. Resnais’ technique of “frequent shifts between black-and-white archive footage of the extermination camps, and sequences in warm color filmed in the verdant surroundings of a former camp,” not only show the difference of the normal looking buildings that hid monstrosities inside - a metaphor for the Nazi officials that distributed death and genocide - but also offers a haunting image, a visual ghost of the travesties that took place (Barnouw, Documentary, 180). By utilizing these visual ghosts, especially of real-life footage of genocide, the viewer begins to truly understand the depth and breadth of the concentration camp. “…staring eyes, the barely stirring skeletons, the line-ups of the naked, and the ovens, give the film a greater impact than another other such film had achieved,” (Barnouw, Documentary, 180). The sheer authenticity of Night and Fog, using actual Nazi footage to show us what the Nazi party thought was worth saving displaying more of their inhumanness. It’s not only authentic suffering from the victims, but an authentic eye of evil. It’s almost as if we are looking through the eyes of a Nazi. This thought, this image, this metaphor, making the viewer sick to their stomachs and swearing off the evil of genocide itself, but also the causes of how we got there.

The modern-day footage, of the haunting camps, empty, shut up, make it seem like a memory. ‘Those who pretend to take hope again as the image fades…who pretend that all this happened only once, at a certain time and in a certain place, and those who refuse to see, who do not heed the cry to the end of time,’ (Barnouw, Documentary, 180). We need to remember that this happens still. Genocide still happens in our world today. Fascist organizations still lead and influence countries today. This is not a one off thing that we can learn and recall. It is an image of what still happens today, in Palestine, in Sudan, West Africa, even in Indonesia. All places suffer from the effects of genocide and war. That’s the power of film and how it can immortalize events that forever change us.

The Act of Killing is no exception. Using a participatory and observational approach instead of expository, we follow a personal journey of Anwar, an actor and perpetrator of the travesties of the genocide in Indonesia. Oppenheimer’s approach has a powerful effect on the viewer. “The most unsettling thing about these images is not the violence they document, but rather what they suggest to us about how their participants wanted, in that moment, to be seen.” This is riddled throughout Act of Killing. Anwar and his friends are thrilled to reveal their torture and killing methods on film. The viewer agrees with Oppenheimer in witnessing the smiles at these atrocities, especially during the reenactments of the killings, with mothers and children. However, a wonderful thing happens with Anwar. As he plays victim in reenactments, he has an epiphany of the horror that he has caused and cannot go on. Unlike Night and Fog, where there is no redemption or humanization of the perpetrator, Oppenheimer shows a beginning of Anwar’s redemption as he comes to term with the horrors he enacted. “Anwar is the bravest and most honest character in The Act of Killing,” becoming more a human being who is able to recognize his own personal evils and question his own character (Joshua Oppenheimer, "Statements," The Act of Killing).

Because of the approaches to documentary, we have different reactions and feelings to genocide. One of inspiration to stop at the sight of genocide and needless war, and the feeling of hope in humanity for peace despite the horror of our day. Whether it be Palestine, Rwanda, Indonesia, South America, may documentary be a voice for humanity and peace.

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Do Not Abandon All Hope Here

Works CitedAmnesty International. "Amnesty International Concludes Israel is Committing Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza." Amnesty International. December 10, 2024. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/12/amnesty-international-concludes-israel-is-committing-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza/.Barnouw, Erik. Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.Joshua Oppenheimer, "Statements," The Act of Killing, accessed October 15, 2025, https://www.theactofkilling.com/statements#h.7lyfglrweddOppenheimer, Joshua. "Stills." The Act of Killing. Accessed October 15, 2025. https://www.theactofkilling.com/stills.Resnais, Alain, dir. Night and Fog (Original Title: Nuit et Brouillard). 1956. The Criterion Collection. Accessed October 15, 2025. https://www.criterion.com/films/238-night-and-fog.