When the CIA returned Peter Sichel’s memoir marked with heavy redactions, the story did not disappear. In The Last Spy, Sichel steps forward to tell it on his own terms. His life spans a century of upheaval: from fleeing Nazi Germany to helping shape American intelligence in its formative years, from the battle against fascism to the covert struggles of the Cold War. As a key figure in Berlin, Sichel stood at the crossroads of history, where ideology, strategy, and ambition collided. He speaks not to glorify espionage, but to interrogate it. With clear-eyed resolve, he reflects on the uneasy balance between defending democracy and undermining it, and on how intelligence work can curdle when driven by ego, hubris, or political vanity.
Directed by Katharina Otto-Bernstein, the film thrusts Sichel back into the geopolitical storms he once helped navigate, confronting the covert operations, strategic gambles, and irreversible decisions that defined modern intelligence. The Last Spy becomes a reckoning with power itself and a reminder that the past is never as distant as we imagine.
Text: Naomi Levari