The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Show reviews
    • Interviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
  • Music
    • Live music
    • Album reviews
    • Interviews
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
    • Fringe
    • Vault Festival
    • Interviews
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Interviews
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join the team
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Film festivals Berlin Film Festival 2021

From Where They Stood (À Pas Aveugles)

Berlin Film Festival 2021: From Where They Stood (À Pas Aveugles) | Review
1st March 2021
Avatar photo
Samuel Nicholls
Avatar
Samuel Nicholls
1 March 2021

Movie and show review

Samuel Nicholls

From Where They Stood (À Pas Aveugles)

★★★★★

Special event

It feels almost deceitful to call From Where They Stood a film about the Holocaust. For 15 years, director Christophe Cognet has dedicated his career to uncovering how the world found out about the concentration camps, to uncover which heroes risked their lives to take clandestine photographs and document the hell the Nazis were hiding from the world. 

This isn’t a film about the horrors of the Holocaust; it’s a film about the journey of history and the preservation of knowledge. Indeed, later generations almost take knowing about the Holocaust for granted, failing to consider the pain and bravery it took to share this unmistakable evil with the world. At a time when “Holocaust scepticism” is somehow on the rise, Cognet’s retracing of the past is not only timeless but also timely.

Moreover, as a director, Cognet doesn’t centre the film around himself – he never breaks into ostentatious monologues, like other big-name documentarians. Instead, he allows the experts to lead the dialogue, letting them explain the historical evidence with precision and care. In this regard, Cognet very much becomes the audience’s POV: a passive yet respectful conduit through which to imbibe the research. It’s easy to do, as the production employs a very down-beat stylistic approach: there’s no theatrical score or self-aggrandising cinematography – nothing to steal the spotlight away from the heavy subject matter. Equally, it should be noted that this isn’t sombre in tone – if anything, it’s ethereal and weirdly hypnotic. With it’s stripped-back aesthetic, the documentary oscillates between past and present seamlessly, in a mesmerising display of archaeological commitment.

Unhurried (perhaps even languorous) in its pacing, From Where They Stood is the cinematic equivalent of slowly wandering around a well-maintained museum. The impetus isn’t to uncover some shocking revelation, but rather to thoughtfully admire the hard work of those who record and preserve history, both then and now. Of course, this slow-going may be too much for casual viewers (it’s literally as intense as looking at old photographs can be), but to audiences with perseverance, it’s deeply rewarding.

Early on, a groundskeeper remarks to the crew how flashes of white nestled in the grassy fields are actually leftover bone fragments from the extermination camps – bursts of history reclaimed by nature. As the custodian puts it, “The victims are still in the soil.” History may have moved on, but the horrors are frozen in place. Thank goodness there are films like From Where They Stood to remind us of this.

★★★★★

Samuel Nicholls

À pas aveugles (From Where They Stood) does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2021 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.

Related Itemsdocumentaryreview

More in Berlinale

“We wanted to shed light on the stories of these real women”: The cast and creatives on The Good Mothers at Berlin Film Festival 2023

Sarah Bradbury
Read More

Le Grand Chariot (The Plough)

★★★★★
Selina Sondermann
Read More

“Australia Day is called Invasion Day by indigenous people – if they want everyone involved, then change it”: Ivan Sen on Limbo at Berlin Film Festival 2023

Oliver Johnston
Read More

Bis ans Ende der Nacht (Till the End of the Night)

★★★★★
Selina Sondermann
Read More

“There’s a richness there that’s only really starting to be tapped”: Simon Baker on Limbo at Berlin Film Festival 2023

Oliver Johnston
Read More

Roter Himmel (Afire)

★★★★★
Selina Sondermann
Read More

Viver Mal (Living Bad)

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

Le Gang des Bois du Temple (The Temple Woods Gang)

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

Sur l’Adamant (On the Adamant): “A valuable contribution to the conversation surrounding mental health treatment”

★★★★★
Selina Sondermann
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Samuel Nicholls

From Where They Stood (À Pas Aveugles)

★★★★★

Special event

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Candy Cane Lane
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eileen
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • “It’s super important to put attention to childhood, it shapes who children become”: Lila Avilés on Tótem at the Belfast Film Festival
    Culture
  • Willie J Healey at Electric Brixton
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Candy Cane Lane
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Willie J Healey at Electric Brixton
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Eileen
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Witches at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Willie J Healey at Electric Brixton
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Witches at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Wish
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
  • Contact us
  • Join the team
  • Subscribe to the mailing list
  • Support us
  • Writing for The Upcoming

Copyright © 2011-2023 FL Media