IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ELIE WIESEL is a tale of opposing forces: evil and redemption, despair and hope, memory and discovery. It is also a testament to the power of personal witness and the possibility of human endurance and change.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ELIE WIESEL chronicles the journey of twelve American high school students as they trace life experiences and formative places of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Photo and film images of the Nobel Peace Prize winner give context and weight to the student experience. Two parallel stories, woven together through time and history, collide as these young people come face to face with evil and redemption. The film is both magical and painful; surreal in its majestic cinematography, and more than real in the ugliness of which man is capable. “What happens when you take the childhood from the child, the love from the lovers, and peace from the person who strives for harmony above all things?” asks one student in her journal.

Audiences have a unique window into the thought process of our students as they share their journal entries and profound insights that accompany the coming of age. “Teenagers have more power than adults give us credit for!” Over the course of their journey, the students begin to realize that it is up to them to create a more just and humane world. Their footsteps become our footsteps.

Project History

Students asked the question, “How can we have an all-inclusive perspective if we have never left the USA?” In 2006, The Echo Foundation responded by creating the Footsteps Global Initiative, a study, travel and leadership program. In its inaugural year, the program’s focus was IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ELIE WIESEL, which in turn, sparked the vision for the documentary film.

Student Ambassadors were chosen based on academic merit, a demonstrated commitment to service, and a profound sense of personal responsibility for the human condition. They spent the year prior to their travel studying an Echo-created curriculum about Wiesel’s life and work, serving as ambassadors for Echo educational programming, and participating in a dialogue with Professor Wiesel. In the summer of 2007, they embarked on their remarkable journey.