Shoah
Ignore my rating because I think you should watch this, if you are interested in the subject matter at all.
First, is this a movie? Yes, though no. I'm tempted to say a movie is a certain length. Anything over four hours becomes a series of some sort, if only for physiological reasons. I prefer to be hypnotized in one setting, yet I can't imagine anybody sitting down for all 9 hours of this in a go.
The artistic choices fascinate me. Rather than show us much, such as photographs or films from the Holocaust -- whatever's in the archives -- the documentary sticks only to interviews with living persons and shots of settings in their present-day (circa the early 1980s).
That means we have the very rare film that leaves mostly everything to our imagination. We hear the stories, we see the places, and yet neither go together obviously. The places mostly look completely serene. The effect is constant over 9 hours for me: how could such things happen in such places?
I suppose filmmakers could learn a lot from this movie/series. 862
Not showing is powerful. Leaving everything to our imagination might be more powerful. That seems to be the result of "Shoah," based on the ratings.
My concern is that this film requires a massive amount of prior knowledge. It's for people from 1985-2015. About that latter year, I'm guessing. But honestly, I'm getting students who know nothing about mid-20th century history. While this film assumes you know much, it's not going to speak well to people who get further distant from its events.
Again, I'm guessing on this, but I am speaking from my experience: prior knowledge/historical knowledge might be necessary here. We'll see. 862