Journalist Adam Benzine's Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah heads to the Oscars

British-born, Canadian-basedAdam Benzinehas taken a curious path to the Oscars. As an editor of the trade magazine Realscreen, hisjob is to report on the state of the non-fiction film marketplace until heencountereda subject that begged to be made into a movie.

Benzine came across the story ofFrench filmmakerClaude Lanzmann, director ofShoah,considered theseminal

documentary aboutthe Holocaust. Documentingthe Nazicampaign to eradicate the Jewish people consumed Lanzmann's life:he ultimately spent 12 years making the film, speaking with survivors andeven going undercover to interview Nazis. When the 10-hour documentary was finally released, it left Lanzmann a changed man.

What amazed Benzinewas that no one had ever made a movie about the French director. Here was a director whowas friends with Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre; aJew who risked his life fighting in French Resistance during the Second World War.

"It was unimaginable to me," Benzinetold CBCNews.

"Hehad this giant, Hemingway-esque life of travel and adventure, so my first reaction was 'I've got to see a film about him.There must be one.' At that point,he was 85 and when I realized there hadn't been one, Ithought it was really important to find him, to sit with him and talk to him about his life."

Thatdesire pulled Benzinebehind thecamera. Though there were nights he spent crying, wondering what he was doing, askednowif he'ssurprised by his Oscar nomination, thefirst-time director is uncharacteristically confident.

"No. I wasn't," he said, laughing.

By capturing Lanzmann's story, the budding director said he knewhad something special. Since it was his first ever film, Benzinesaid he relied heavily on the experience of his Canadian crew. Livingand working in Toronto was also critical in helping the film come to fruition, he said, in that he could call on the talents ofnumerousfriends in the industry for help.

Now the young director, currently the Canadian bureau chief at content company C21,is adjusting to life on the other side of the red carpet. There are Oscar panels to attend, a tuxedo to purchase and more. He's aware his 15 minutes of fame is fleeting, but he's said he'sgoing to make the most of it including joking about plans to ask out Hollywood starlet Jennifer Lawrence.

And while he recognizes the contradiction in glitzycelebrations overa film centred onsuch a dire subject, for Benzine, the overall goalis toshareShoah with a new audience.

"It`s great for the film: the exposure on the CBC documentary channel, being on HBOand just all the people who will go out and seek Claude's story."

Lanzmann's remarkable documentary is considered the definitive work on the Holocaust, but he never received an Oscar. Buton Feb.28, the now 90-year-old filmmaker will beBenzine's guest at this year's Academy Awards, as a new generation discovers him and pays tribute to his difficult cinematic journey.