The movie
September 5
An intelligent, razor-edged thriller, which chronicles US broadcaster ABC Sports’ coverage of the kidnapping of the Israeli national team during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics.
Length: 95 min
Country: Duitsland, Verenigde Staten
Language spoken: Engels, Duits
Language subtitles: Nederlands
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch
Director: Tim Fehlbaum
Release date: 06/03/2025
Description
An intelligent, razor-edged thriller, which chronicles US broadcaster ABC Sports’ coverage of the kidnapping of the Israeli national team during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, September 5 questions the nature of journalistic practice and the ethics of representing history as it unfolds.
On September 5 1972, members of a militant Palestinian faction known as Black September infiltrated the Olympic Village in Munich and took hostage the Israeli national team. It was the first terrorist act to be captured and broadcast live on television, and not by a seasoned team of current affairs journalists and ‘experts’, but by ABC Sports. Producer Roone Arledge (an electric Peter Sarsgaard) made it clear that his team wouldn’t relinquish their control of the coverage. But in doing so, he took on the responsibility of what an audience, including the terrorists themselves, would see.
On September 5 1972, members of a militant Palestinian faction known as Black September infiltrated the Olympic Village in Munich and took hostage the Israeli national team. It was the first terrorist act to be captured and broadcast live on television, and not by a seasoned team of current affairs journalists and ‘experts’, but by ABC Sports. Producer Roone Arledge (an electric Peter Sarsgaard) made it clear that his team wouldn’t relinquish their control of the coverage. But in doing so, he took on the responsibility of what an audience, including the terrorists themselves, would see.
Reviews
"A well-made picture”
