In the organizer's words:

On the night of February 19, 2020, a racist shoots nine young people in Hanau. What remains are grieving families and survivors who not only fight for those murdered, but
also fight for truth and justice. For four years, director Marcin Wierzchowski follows their tireless resistance against forgetting - and poses the currently pressing question: Who belongs to Germany and who does not?

The film tells the story of the racist attack in the Hessian town of Hanau in 2020 from the perspective of the bereaved and survivors. Within a few minutes, the perpetrator shot nine young people because he didn't think they were German. What are the direct and long-term consequences of such an attack on the people and their city? Director Marcin Wierzchowski accompanied the protagonists for four years as they dealt with their grief and came to terms with the loss of a loved one. But he also shows their struggle for recognition and belonging to the country they call home. The relatives feel abandoned by the authorities and politicians because, despite many words of sympathy, it is they themselves who have to uncover the circumstances of the crime. In doing so, they come up against the cold bureaucracy of a system that is not prepared for such a crime - even though right-wing terror is part of the sad normality of German history.

Directed by

Marcin Wierzchowski

Screenplay

Marcin Wierzchowski

Cinematography

Marcin Wierzchowski, Peter Peiker

Editing

Stefan Oliveira-Pita

music

Louisa Beck, Kaan Bulak

Sound Design

Matz Müller, Ole Ohlendorf, Paul Rischer, Hendrik Jurich, Paul Ziesche

Producers

Marcin Wierzchowski, Pola Sell, Dorothea Braun, Kurt Otterbacher, Julius Theis

#SAYTHEIRNAMES
Ferhat Unvar, Hamza Kurtović, Said Nesar Hashemi, Vili Viorel Păun, Mercedes Kierpacz, Kaloyan Velkov, Fatih Saraçoğlu, Sedat Gürbüz and Gökhan Gültekin

"The German People" screened in the Berlinale Special out of competition section. Marcin Wierzchowski was already awarded a Grimme Prize in 2022 for his documentary "Hanau - One Night and its Consequences".

"Deeply humanistic, radically subjective and yet universal (...) With his sensitive, closely observing long-term documentary, Marcin Wierzchowski gives a voice above all to the relatives of the victims."- critic.de

"Wierzchowski's two-hour documentary in black and white impressively tells of the consequences of the attack from the perspective of the bereaved and survivors, who feel abandoned by politics and bureaucracy." - dpa

Price information:

Admission: 0-5,- € donation to support the event (everything above that will be donated)