For the past two summers, journalist Andrew Jacobs has been working on a joyful film about the Holocaust.

Tentatively titled Four Seasons Lodge, the documentary-in-progress points a lens at the 70 or so elderly Holocaust survivors who have spent the past 27 summers getting together at their cooperative bungalow colony in the tiny Catskills town of Ellenville, NY. There, they shmooze, share memories, and joyously celebrate their survival.

“What I’m hoping to do is to make a film unlike any Holocaust film that’s ever been made,” the 41-year-old Jacobs said during a recent telephone interview from Manhattan, where he works as a Metro section reporter for The New York Times.

“It’s not just people talking about the horror of the death camps,” he said. “It’s about their triumph over trauma and memory and how they’ve been able to embrace life despite what they’ve been through.”

Jacobs will screen and discuss clips from his extraordinary film during Oscar Night With Federation, an evening of red-carpet treatment, champagne cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and dessert on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. at the West Windsor home of Ronni and Adam Dworsky.

The evening will be the first outreach event of the year for the United Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks, said Emily Josephson of West Windsor, federation’s associate campaign chair and coordinator of the event.

“The outreach event is to educate and generate awareness about what federation does,” Josephson said. “I think what’s exciting about this program is that everyone loves the glamour and lights and action of the movies. It’s an exciting theme. A film about how these Holocaust survivors celebrate life is a wonderful context in which people can celebrate the wonderful work of federation.”

Janis Oolie Glasberg, associate campaign director for the federation, said she was particularly struck by the passion with which Jacobs speaks about his subjects.

“He’s just a young guy who took such a fascination with Holocaust survivors,” she said. “That makes it even more exciting. I would love to see a large turnout for the event. I would love to see new faces as well as familiar ones for a wonderful evening.”

A native of Newark who grew up in South Orange and celebrated his bar mitzva at Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston, Jacobs discovered the colony of survivors in Ellenville two summers ago, when he was writing a series on summer life in the Catskills.

“I became kind of obsessed with them,” he said. “I felt they had an amazing kind of communal life, and their individual stories were remarkable.”

At first, Jacobs said, he thought he would write a book about the survivors. “Then, I thought — no, only a film would really be the way to capture them.”

So Jacobs, who had no experience with filmmaking, formed an association with famed documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, whose credits include Grey Gardens and Gimme Shelter. With Maysles as his director of cinematography, Jacobs returned to Ellenville last summer to direct the filming — more than 200 hours of it — at the Four Seasons Lodge.

In the documentary, the camera follows the survivors as they talk together, prepare meals together, attend services, play a lively game of poker, and party into the night.

“They have an incredible joie de vivre,” Jacobs said. “They really party like you wouldn’t believe. Every Saturday night, they have a big extravaganza. They dress up like they’re going to a wedding, and they dance until very late at night. They just have a great time together. They have become each other’s families.

“It’s a verité style,” he added. “Everything is kind of natural. Nothing is staged. It’s capturing the complexity of their life. They want to have fun. They want to fall in love again — to dance, to hike, to cook, and to enjoy every minute.”

The very name of the lodge suggests the passage of time, Jacobs observed. “These people are in the last season of their lives,” he said. “The focus is on a few of the characters who are kind of extraordinary people — not just what they’ve been through, but how they embrace life.”

It’s as if the survivors are saying that having a good life is the best revenge on the Holocaust, Jacobs said. “They’re saying: It’s 2006, and we’re still here — and not just here, but having a kick-ass time.”

These days, Jacobs is busy at work writing the script for Four Seasons Lodge, looking for an editor, and seeking funding for the documentary. So far, he has raised about $60,000 of the estimated $300,000 cost of the film. “We’re trying to raise money, largely from the Jewish community,” he said. “We’re looking for grants as well as contributions.”

As he reflects on his experiences with this group of Holocaust survivors, Jacobs said, he is struck by the fact that this is the last of that world. “These are the last people who have a memory of that time,” he said. “The unfortunate reality is that in five years or at most 10, it will just all be gone.

“I think it has definitely inspired me, in a way — that you can endure unspeakable horror, you can go through hell, and still go on and be a loving, forgiving, joyous person,” he said. “That’s kind of amazing. They’ve just been inspiring me about human beings and their ability to go on and embrace and enjoy life.”

The reservation deadline for Oscar Night With Federation is Feb. 16. The event involves a suggested minimum gift to federation’s general campaign and/or Women’s Campaign. Tickets cost $36. For information, contact Glasberg or 609-219-0555.