Ghosts of German Past Evoked in Venice Films

Andres Veiel’s documentary “Riefenstahl,” which challenges the carefully crafted public persona of one of Germany’s most controversial directors, who was forever tainted by working with the Nazis, is one of 17 German films playing in the various sections of the Venice Film Festival.

A deep dive into Leni Reifenstahl’s previously inaccessible archive, the 160-minute film lifts the lid on secrets the director of the 1935 Nuremberg propaganda film “Triumph of the Will” struggled more than half her life to keep hidden.

Veiel, who was brought onboard to direct by producer Sandra Maischberger of Berlin’s Vincent Films – who had gained unfettered access to Riefenstahl’s archive after the death of her longtime companion and husband Horst Kette in 2016 – is untroubled by the film’s out-of-competition berth as he believes the festival is the right venue for its first showing.

“For me, it is the right festival for the film,” Veiel tells Variety. “The political situation in German and Italy is similar – with the rise of the right-wing, and a longing for propaganda and fake news. For a debate about the film, it is one of the best festivals for us.”

There are also ghosts of the past in Venice – Riefenstahl screened several of her films at the festival in the 1930s, including her two Nazi propaganda films, and her first feature “The Blue Light,” made in 1932. She even had a retrospective on the Lido in the 1950s, at a time when she was just beginning to construct a persona distanced from the Nazis, and – as “Riefenstahl” shows – largely built on lies.

Although not an easy film to watch – as Veiel succeeds in proving her apparent complicity in the murder of Jewish men in Poland and admiration for Hitler – “Riefenstahl” is likely to prove a hot ticket in Venice.

Another much-anticipated film, Tim Fehlbaum’s Munich summer 1972 Olympics feature “September 5,” is playing in the Horizons Extra competition section. Starring Peter Sarsgaard and John Magaro, and revolving around the sports reporting team of U.S. broadcaster ABC, who have to switch from covering track and field events to the Israeli athletes’ hostage crisis, it focuses on how tragic events can also challenge the moral compass of journalists covering them.

In Horizons, Scandar Copti’s “Happy Holidays” tells the story of a Palestinian woman whose double life is revealed after a car accident in Jerusalem, and “Quiet Life,” directed by Alexandros Avranas, focuses on a family of asylum seekers whose hopes of creating a new life in Sweden are dashed when their application is rejected.

Two German co-productions are screening in the main competition – Athina Rachel Tsangari’s “Harvest,” adapted from the prize-winning book of the same name about an unnamed English village that seems to exist in neither time nor place – before it disappears for ever. There is also the Italian-German-U.S. co-production, “Maria” by Pablo Larrain, which tells the story of opera singer Maria Callas.

Looking further ahead, German films are also heading to the Toronto Film Festival.

Key films in the lineup there include Fabian Stumm’s sophomore film “Sad Jokes” playing as an international premiere in the festival’s Discovery section. It focuses on the relationship between Joseph and Sonya – who are raising a son together although their relationship is platonic. Things go awry when Sonya has a breakdown, tearing Joseph’s attention away from a new film project – and the pain of a break-up with his ex-boyfriend, Marc.

Others already announced include “Edge of Night” by Türker Süer; “Seven Days” by Amil Samadi Ahadi, and “The Sunset Special 2” by Nicolas Gebbe.