Tim Blake Nelson's powerful account of what inspired him, and how he prepared himself and others to make this haunting movie, reveals how and why a writer/director chooses such a difficult subject and surmounts its challenges First realized as a play, which earned numerous awards, the story is based on historical events, centering on Auschwitz's twelfth Sonderkommando squad, prisoners assigned work in the crematoria, and their struggle to organize the only armed revolt in October of 1944. Financed by Millennium Films, produced by Killer Films, and released by Lions Gate Films in the U.S., The Grey Zone debuted in the United States in October 2002, garnering major media attention. This book is the definitive record of Nelson's journey--from his initial readings and research, to assembling a brave cast that could tackle the material, to reconstructing the crematoria 80 percent to scale on location outside of Sofia, Bulgaria, and to his work with the art director, costume and production designers, and others on his team. To acquaint his cast and crew with the difficult material, Nelson summarized his research and his cinematic vision in a compelling, lengthy pre-production memo, which is reproduced in this book. Also included are his screenplay, his annotated reading list, movie stills, excerpts from an essay by Primo Levi, and the source chapter from the book Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account, by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli.