The Grey Zone

The Grey Zone
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTim Blake Nelson
Written byTim Blake Nelson
Based onAuschwitz: a Doctor's Eyewitness Account
by Miklós Nyiszli and
The Grey Zone
by Tim Blake Nelson
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRussell Lee Fine
Edited by
  • Michelle Botticelli
  • Tim Blake Nelson
Music byJeff Danna
Production
companies
Distributed byLions Gate Films
Roadside Attractions
Release dates
  • September 13, 2001 (2001-09-13) (TIFF)
  • October 18, 2002 (2002-10-18) (United States)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$517,872

The Grey Zone is a 2001 American historical tragedy film written and directed by Tim Blake Nelson and starring David Arquette, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, and Daniel Benzali. It is based on the book Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account written by Dr. Miklós Nyiszli.

The title comes from a chapter in the book The Drowned and the Saved by Holocaust survivor Primo Levi. The film tells the story of the Jewish Sonderkommando XII in Auschwitz in October 1944. These prisoners were made to assist the camp's guards in shepherding their victims to the gas chambers and then disposing of their bodies in the ovens.