ELIE WIESEL
SOUL ON FIRE
In production
ABOUT THE FILM
Soul on Fire will ask: What troubled Elie Wiesel? What drove Elie Wiesel throughout his life to be such a powerful moral voice for human rights? How can the lessons he drew from the Holocaust be applied to today’s hostile world, where authoritarian leaders threaten to destroy fragile societies? How have Elie Wiesel’s students built upon his teachings in their own lives and around the world?
OUR TEAM
Oren Rudavsky, the film's writer, director and producer is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and several National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts grants. Rudavsky most recently co-wrote and directed the American Masters documentary: Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People. The film was nominated for an Emmy as part of the American Masters series as well as a Critics Choice Award. The Los Angeles Times called it “brisk and engaging,” and the New York Times called it “a fascinating study in contradictions.” His film A Life Apart: Hasidism in America was short-listed for the Academy Awards and broadcast on PBS and his film Hiding and Seeking was nominated for an Independent Spirit award and was chosen for the PBS POV series.
Our consulting producer is Menachem Daum; he has directed and produced several films about Jewish life and the Holocaust with Rudavsky. Advisor and co-producer Annette Insdorf, author of Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust, is a friend of the Wiesel family and a child of survivors and has advised the filmmakers on past projects.
Marion Wiesel, Elie Wiesel’s widow, and his son Elisha have granted us exclusive access to family members, friends and the family's private archives.
ELIE WIESEL
Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 in Sighet, Romania. His family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, where his mother and baby sister were immediately taken to the gas chambers. In 1960, Wiesel’s book, Night was published in English. Soul on Fire the film, will focus on Elie Wiesel’s early years and his struggle with faith and survival, his work as a teacher, a leader, and his rising fame, culminating in key events such as his Bitburg speech: “Mr. President, that place is not your place;” and his Nobel speech where he vividly said: “Indifference is the most insidious danger and disease of all.” Elie’s wisdom and moral vision are needed more than ever in today’s world.