"Sophie's Choice" is a 1982 film directed by Alan J. Pakula based on the 1979 novel of the same name by William Styron. It tells the story of a concentration camp survivor Sophie, played by Maryl Streep, and her lover Nathan, played by Kevin Kline. Nathan is an American Jew who has an obsession with the Holocaust. The film, taking place after the war, is narrated through a series of flashbacks that depict Sophie's tribulations. The film not only addresses the holocaust but also its effects after the war. It won a number of Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations and awards.
"War and Remembrance" is a TV miniseries from 1988 based on a novel by the same name by Herman Wouk. It is a sequel to "Winds of War", but concentrates almost exclusively on depicting the brutality of the Holocaust and the experiences of a variety a family members. Filmed on location in the former Auschwitz concentration camp, the film stars Jane Seymour, Rober Mitchum, Ian McShane and Sharon Stone and won 15 Emmy Award nominations. Although a miniseries, it is considered an important production.
Released in 1980, "Playing for Time" is a film made for television based on "The Musicians of Auschwitz," an autobiography by Fania Fenelon. It depicts a group of classical musicians whose lives were spared in exchange for performing their talents. The movie raises questions about morality and human dignity and stars Venessa Redgrave in the central role. It was released on DVD in 2010.
"Genocide" is a documentary narrated by Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles, released in 1982, that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film examines the Jewish community in Europe before the war as well as subsequent life in the ghettos and concentration camps. It uses historical archive footage that depict world leaders, the ghettos, camps and the Nuremberg Trials.