Student film crew plans Holocaust documentary

By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer
Carlsbad High youths seek survivors, sponsors for trip to Germany | Wednesday, December 26, 2007 8:57 AM PST ∞

CARLSBAD -- Fourteen budding journalists with Carlsbad High School's award-winning television news program are planning a trip to Germany to film "a documentary within a documentary" about the Holocaust.

The 30-minute movie, called "Never Again," will chronicle students as they interview survivors in Southern California over the next few months, said teacher Doug Green, who created and oversees the Emmy-winning CHSTV (Carlsbad High School Television) program.

In April, Green and his news crew will travel to Dachau, Germany to visit the concentration camp there and talk with locals about the Holocaust -- Adolf Hitler's plan to exterminate the Jews during World War II.

The Dachau camp, built in 1933, served as the blueprint for most other concentration camps, according to Dachau's official Web site. More than 30,000 political prisoners, Jews and enemies of the Nazi party died in the camp, one of the most notorious of Hitler's "work camps."

Students who met last week in the school's studio to film their thoughts about the project said the Holocaust must never be forgotten.

"A lot of the survivors won't be around for much longer and we need to get their views out into the world," said Sean Funkhouser, a senior who said he wants to show the world that high school students have the skill and heart to tell this story.

During last week's filming, students shared what they already know about the Holocaust, what they hope to learn through their study, and why they want to be part of the project.

Portions of the interviews may be part of the 30-minute movie.

Green said the concept of a "documentary within a documentary" is as unusual as sending a student news crew halfway around the world.

"In this documentary about a documentary, the viewers will be seeing us and how we react" to firsthand accounts of the survivors' struggles in the concentration camp, Green said.

The movie will be copied onto DVDs for shipment to high schools across the country so others can see what these students learned about the Holocaust -- and about themselves and their skills as journalists, Green said.

"It's more than information," said Dakota Adan, a 15-year-old sophomore. "It's about how students feel as they are exposed to this hard truth."

Students will pay their own way to Germany at a cost of about $3,000 each, and they are seeking sponsors and donors to help fund their trip. The filmmakers also want local Holocaust survivors to contact them for interviews. Interested parties should e-mail Green at dougteach@aol.com.

-- Contact staff writer Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or online at pireland@nctimes.com.