section Facing the Fear – Cinematic reflections on terror, trauma and resistance

Der Zweite Anschlag

Mala Reinhardt
DE
2018
62

The first attack is followed by a second: the handling by the media, judiciary and investigative authorities of those affected by right-wing extremist terror. In a series of powerful interviews, survivors and the families of the victims have their say – and voice accusations.

All the while director Mala Reinhardt relies on simple aesthetic design elements, allowing the protagonists to speak both directly and forthrightly about their experiences. The film affords them a hitherto unavailable space, in the process achieving a shift of perspective; after all, it is usually the perpetrators that are the focus of media coverage. The film brings together the seemingly individual fates of the victims of the attacks and the experiences of family members, thus painting a comprehensive picture of the structural racism that affects the survivors in a second wave of violence: invasive journalism, authorities primarily suspicious of family members, as well as ignorance and inaction on the part of the political system. It soon becomes clear that such attitudes are also responsible for the consistency with which right-wing extremist attacks have been carried out in Germany since the 1980s - from racially motivated murders in Hamburg to the attacks in Mölln and Rostock-Lichtenhagen and the crimes of the so-called NSU, responsible for the murders of nine people between 2000 and 2006. “No tenth victim” is what the relatives demand from the authorities and politicians at demonstrations and memorial ceremonies whilst “NSU-Komplex auflösen” (Dissolve the NSU complex), an action alliance launched in 2017, calls for a complete resolution of the case. These paths of resistance also feature in this documentary.

Text: Merlin Webers
English: Peter Rickerby

Before the screening of DER ZWEITE ANSCHLAG the panel Politics of the images of terror will take place on Sa, 22 June, 13:30. The panelist are Benjamin Fischer (Program Director Alfred Landecker Foundation) and Miro Dittrich (Senior Researcher CeMAS - Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy) Language: German, admission free, Filmkunst 66 - Saal 2.

After the screening of DER ZWEITE ANSCHLAG the panel Right-wing violence and right-wing extremist terror and the social function of film in Germany will take place on Sa, June 22, 16:30. Panelists are Julian Vogel (director of EINZELTÄTER) and Ulf Aminde (artist and filmmaker). Language: German, admission free, Filmkunst 66 - Saal 2.

Credits

original title Der Zweite Anschlag

international title Der Zweite Anschlag

german title Der Zweite Anschlag

JFBB section Facing the Fear – Cinematic reflections on terror, trauma and resistance

director Mala Reinhardt

country/countries DE

year 2018

duration 62

Mala Reinhardt

BIO Mala Reinhardt works as a director and producer of documentary films. She studied directing at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf in Potsdam and previously studied ethnology in Cologne, New Delhi and Kampala. In her film work, Mala focuses primarily on untold stories from a migrant and feminist perspective. Her film DER ZWEITE ANSCHLAG ("The Second Attack”) (DOK Leipzig 2018) deals with racism and right-wing violence in Germany from the perspective of those affected. Mala is currently working on “Familiar Places”, a very personal documentary about questions of identity and belonging in a post-migrant society.

Credits

performances