Draft:The Round Number

The Round Number
המספר העגול
Directed by	David Fisher
Written by	David Fisher
Produced by	David Fisher Leigh Heiman Errol Morris (executive producer)
Cinematography	Ron Katzenelson Ronen Mayo Claudio Steinberg Leigh Heiman
Edited by	Ron Omer Hadas Ayalon Hila Haramatti
Music by	Ran Bagno
Production company	Fisher Features Ltd.
Distributed by	Go2Films
Release date	August 25, 2021 (2021-08-25) (Jerusalem Film Festival)
Running time	60 minutes
Country	Israel
Languages	Hebrew, English

The Round Number (Hebrew: המספר העגול, HaMispar HaAgul) is an Israeli documentary film by Fisher Features Ltd., written, directed, and produced by David Fisher in 2021 for HOT8. The film interrogates the figure of "Six Million", the accepted count of Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the historical, political and ethical questions it raises.

Synopsis

The film is a historical and personal journey by David Fisher, the film's director and the son of Holocaust survivors, which examines how the number "six million" became canonical in collective memory as the defining symbol of the Holocaust. In an attempt to trace the source of the number, Fisher raises questions regarding history, politics, and identity that echo the ongoing debate among historians: What is the origin of the number? When does the counting of victims begin and end? Who was the first victim and who was the last? What are the problems inherent in the counting process, and will we ever reach an exact number of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust? Fisher asks whether the number has become so deeply embedded in public consciousness as to be beyond scrutiny, becoming effectively “untouchable”, or whether the duty to rigorously examine it is the only way to truly protect it.

Throughout the film, Fisher interviews key historians in the field of Holocaust studies, including Yehuda Bauer, Dina Porat, Omer Bartov, and Hanna Yablonka, each of whom presents a different approach to the subject.

Similar to his previous films concerning the Holocaust, Love Inventory and Six Million and One, The Round Number is also intertwined with the director's family history. The critic Shmulik Duvdevani argues that the film is effectively a continuation of the director's journey that began in Love Inventory, noting that Fisher is driven throughout the film by "the command of his late father."

Production

The film was produced with the support of HOT8. The executive producer is Errol Morris, whom Fisher first met while teaching at Yale University. Fisher struggled to find production support from Israeli public funds and foreign sources due to concerns about being accused of Antisemitism or trivializing the Holocaust, and he eventually added his own personal funding to the production. The film's soundtrack was designed by Avi Mizrahi.

Participants

• Hanna Yablonka
• Yehuda Bauer
• Dina Porat
• Avraham (Tito) Milgram
• Yoel Rappel
• Alexander Avraham
• Omer Bartov
• Arie Barnea
• Yitzhak Arad
• Nili Keren
• Gabriel Bach
• Israel Gutman (Voice only)
• Avihu Ronen
• Ronel Fisher
• Avigdor Shachan
• Carlos Huerta
• Carol Kidron
• Ilana Rosenfeld
• Devorah Efrati
• Aryeh Geniger
• Shlomit Snir
• Mark Peters
• Hauke Peters

Screenings

The film premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival in August 2021.

In 2022, the film was screened at the Transilvania International Film Festival and at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (BAFICI) as part of a retrospective held for Fisher's filmography. Following the screenings, several Argentine critics wrote about the film in the context of the people who disappeared during the military junta rule between 1976 and 1983, whose number is unknown to this day.

In 2023, the film was selected for the art collection of Duke University. In the same year, the film was awarded runner-up in the Screen-Based Practice Research category at the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS).

Critical Reception

The film provoked sharp public controversy, both over the questions it raises and over Fisher's willingness to engage them. Several critics argued that the questions Fisher raises are important and fundamental, allowing for public discourse on a subject previously feared and neglected. Conversely, others argued that the film might cause damage the memory and legacy of the Holocaust. Despite praising the comprehensive work done on the film, Dina Porat worried that even a child of Holocaust survivors raising such questions could lead audiences to doubt the established figure of Jewish victims. Freddy Eytan and Yaakov Ahimeir expressed concern that the film would assist Holocaust denial. Dani Dayan, the chairman of Yad Vashem, and others claimed that the very engagement with a subject they deemed "marginal" is ridiculous and unnecessary. In contrast, Uri Klein argued that Fisher engages with one of the defining existential symbols of Israeli society and that doing so was a courageous act, while Avner Shavit wrote that the director’s insistence on taking nothing for granted does not damage the Holocaust’s legacy but rather enacts its lessons. Meir Schnitzer argues that the film highlights the methodical approach of the "New Historians" (Hanna Yablonka and Omer Bartov), faithful to documents and firsthand testimonies, over that of the "Old Historians" (Dina Porat), and that "it exposes mechanisms of cutting corners, deliberate blurring of the truth, and manipulative use of history for temporary propaganda gains".

In response to the discussion about the film, Fisher wrote a column explaining his approach regarding the overall subject and the differences between Documentary filmmaking and academic research.

External links

• The Round Number at IMDb
• The Round Number on Go2Films
• The Round Number on the Israeli Documentary Film Catalog
• The Round Number on the EDB website (In Hebrew)