Meuthen's Party
LOGLINE
An ultra nationalist right-wing party is on the rise in Germany. As a polite economics professor campaigns as an Alternative for Germany candidate in the state parliamentary election, frontline access exposes the startling reach of his seemingly rational rhetoric. (Hot Docs)
SYNOPSIS
Anti-immigrant and pro traditional social values, Germany’s new populist party, AfD (Alternative for Germany), is poised for a fight in the 2016 state elections. Enter a polite economics professor, Dr. Jörg Meuthen. Averse to the bluster of fervent hard-liners, he takes a quiet, rational approach, hoping to win uninitiated minds first and “deplorable” hearts second. So unassuming, Meuthen thinks nothing of allowing student filmmaker Marc Eberhardt to accompany him on his campaign trail. Rolling out his strategy of reason and facts on the middle class in beer halls, he quells jeering crowds of protestors by finding common ground, inciting conversation rather than invective. But its at his party’s national convention where he shows his true political face, as the camera pulls back to reveal the far more worrying scale of AfD’s base and leadership. What results is an unexpected, unvarnished primer on the rise of the new normalized right. (Hot Docs, Myrocia Watamaniuk)
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Marc EberhardtDirector
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Theresa BaczaProducer
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Pablo Ben YakovEditor
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Roland ScheligaColor Correction
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Simon PeterSound Design & Mix
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Project Title (Original Language):Meuthen's Party
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Project Type:Documentary, Student
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Runtime:1 hour 33 minutes
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Completion Date:April 20, 2017
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Country of Origin:Germany
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Country of Filming:Germany
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Language:German
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Shooting Format:Digital HD
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:Yes
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Dokumentarfilmwoche HamburgHamburg
Germany
April 21, 2017
Premiere -
Hot DocsToronto
Canada
April 29, 2017
International Premiere -
dokKaKarlsruhe
Germany
May 28, 2017 -
Festival Dei PopoliFlorence
Italy
October 10, 2017
Italian Premiere -
Ji.hlava IDFFJihlava
Czech Republic
October 28, 2017
East European Premiere -
Kasseler Dokumentar- & VideofestKassel
Germany
November 15, 2017 -
FILMZ Festival des deutschen KinosMainz
Germany
December 2, 2017 -
Docs & TalksCopenhagen / Aarhus
Denmark
February 25, 2018
Scandinavian Premiere -
One World International Human Rights Documentary Film FestivalPrague
Czech Republic
March 7, 2018 -
Nonfiktionale Bad AiblingBad Aibling
Germany
March 8, 2018 -
Crossing EuropeLinz
Austria
April 25, 2018
Austrian Premiere -
SehsüchtePotsdam
Germany
April 26, 2018
Winner Best Feature Documentary -
ASTRA International Film FestivalSibiu
Romania
October 18, 2018
Romanian Premiere
Docschool Competition -
VERZIO Human Rights Film FestivalBudapest
Hungary
November 7, 2018
Hungarian Premiere
Distribution Information
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Filmakademie Baden-WürttembergCountry: GermanyRights: All Rights
Holds a BA in German Philology and Philosophy from the University of Potsdam. Between 2011 and 2013 he studied documentary film making at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. He is currently studying documentary film making at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.
FILMOGRAPHY
SIRTAKI | 2016 | Co-director with Lukas Demgenski | Short Fiction
RECEPTION CENTER II | 2016 | Co-director with Pablo Ben Yakov | Feature-length Documentary | Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg | SWR Junger Dokumentarfilm | Premiered at FILMZ – Festival des deutschen Kinos 2016
HERZLICH WILLKOMMEN | 2015 | Co-director with Pablo Ben Yakov | Short Documentary | 16mm | Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg | Premiered at STIFF – Student International Film Festival Rijeka 2016
DAS HERZ VON STUTTGART | 2015 | Co-director with André Krummel | Animated Documentary | Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg | Premiered at ITFS 2016
What was your motivation and why did you choose this subject?
I grew up in Baden-Württemberg and know the region well. Including this male dominated pub atmosphere, as depicted in the film. The AfD’s success scared me at first. That was my immediate feeling. Then I started to ask myself how this rhetoric of „I‘m not a Nazi, but...“ had returned? How do these people think? How do they manage to make these resentments
socially acceptable again. One needs a breeding ground for this to happen. Maybe it is facilitated here because Baden-Württemberg never had a broad anti-fascist movement. After the „Third Reich“ many people just carried on. A thin layer of normality grew, which is now cracking and what appears underneath manifests itself also in the appearance of the AfD.
How did you first get in touch and how did you establish a relationship with Meuthen?
Politicians like him are usually quite careful with cameras?
I went to one of his political rallies and just approached him. He was interested in hearing me out. Although, a few days later on the phone he was backing up a little. I told him that I see the AfD’s entrance into the parliament of Baden-Württemberg as an historical event, which I would like to document. He agreed to that.
What were the rules during shooting? Did you have other meetings beforehand?
Actually I started shooting right from the beginning. We agreed that he will get to see the film before its release. And his family was to be excluded. That was not a problem for me, I always wanted to show the public figure, not the private person Jörg Meuthen. Of course every now and then he asked me to stop the camera when he was discussing internal affairs or anything private.
How was your personal relationship with Meuthen?
During the shoot we had a good relationship. Maybe because I am a male white heterosexual and I was shaved, I didn‘t stand out. Maybe it was also helpful that I filmed alone, without a crew, for most of the time. At one point I simply became part of the entourage and no one from the party ever asked what I was doing or why I´m doing it. I could do whatever I wanted.
For example, he never asked me about my own political views. I think, he actually enjoyed having me around and maybe he was flattered. He might have been seduced by his own vanity as he was under the impression of having his own court reporter.
You are saying you kept a low profile and simply observed.
Overall, the film has a slow pace. What attitude are you conveying by this?
In general, I didn’t ask a lot of questions. It was not my intention to begin a controversial argument. One can hide behind the camera and observe through the lens. I wanted to capture his very rapid rise. He used to be a professor in economics, leaves his job to become a politician and now elderly women tell him: „I am praying for you to win the election!“ My intention was to capture this atmosphere, where noisy nationalist forces strive for a right-wing revolution. They strive for attention and generate it with scandals. I didn‘t want to feed this machinery because the media and the AfD would benefit. It is the subtleties between the lines of what you see and hear that matters. The slow narrative invites people to think about themselves
and their own views while watching the film. At least that is what I hope for.