HBO to Debut Documentary NIGHT WILL FALL, 1/26

When British, Soviet and American forces liberated Nazi concentration camps in 1945, army and newsreel cameramen recorded the terrible discoveries they made. Later, Sidney Bernstein of the British government's Ministry of Information and his team, including supervising director Alfred Hitchcock, drew on this footage, shot at Bergen-Belsen, Dachau and Auschwitz, to create a harrowing film titled "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey."

NIGHT WILL FALL reveals the previously untold story of this deeply moving documentary when it debuts MONDAY, JAN. 26 (9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, directed by André Singer (executive producer of "The Act of Killing") and produced by Sally Angel and Brett Ratner (the "Rush Hour" series, "X Men: The Last Stand," "Hercules"), the film juxtaposes horrific raw footage and scenes from the 1945 documentary with insights from the survivors, the soldiers who liberated them and the filmmakers who recorded these appalling images. Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, NIGHT WILL FALL will have an encore presentation Tuesday, Jan. 27 on HBO2, when networks around the globe will also present it.

Other HBO playdates: Jan. 26 (4:40 a.m.) and 29 (12:30 p.m., 12:30 a.m.), and Feb. 7 (2:30 p.m.), 12 (1:30 p.m.), 15 (noon) and 24 (4:00 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Jan. 27 (10:30 p.m.) and 31 (3:00 p.m.), and Feb. 6 (5:40 p.m.) and 10 (12:50 a.m.)

Despite the 1945 documentary's artistic pedigree, the initial support it received, and the use of some of the most riveting concentration-camp footageever shot, Bernstein's project has not been widely seen. NIGHT WILL FALL tells the incredible story behind the film, featuring interviews with concentration-camp survivors, several of whom identify younger versions of themselves in the footage, as well as archival interviews with Bernstein (who later founded Granada Television), Hitchcock and director Billy Wilder.

In the 1980s, original reels and notes from the documentary, which had been stored since 1952 in the archives at the Imperial War Museums (IWM) in London, were combined with a commentary read by actor Trevor Howard. However, the final reel was missing.

Four years ago, the IWM began an ambitious project to digitize, restore and complete "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey," including the never-before-seen sixth reel. The finished film features heartbreaking interviews with survivors, soldiers, historians and archivists, which are presented along with unflinching, restored, rarely-seen archival footage and eyewitness testimony. NIGHT WILL FALL provides a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at how this forgotten documentary was made, and how it has finally been completed after 70 years.

NIGHT WILL FALL is directed by Andre Singer; produced by Sally Angel and Brett Ratner for a RatPac Documentary Films Presentation; narrator, Helena Bonham Carter; narrator for "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey," Jasper Britton; executive producers, Richard Melman, James Packer and Stephen Frears; written by Lynette Singer; director of photography, Richard Blanshard; editors, Arik Lahav-Leibovich and Stephen Miller; composer, Nicholas Singer.

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