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Das Deutsche Volk

Berlinale Special 2025
© Marcin Wierzchowski
The film tells the story of the 2020 racist attack in the city of Hanau in the German state of Hesse from the perspective of the bereaved relatives and the survivors. Within the space of just a few minutes, the perpetrator shot nine young people dead because he did not consider them to be German. What are the direct and long-term consequences of such an attack on people and their city? Director Marcin Wierzchowski accompanied the protagonists for four years as they faced their grief and strived to come to terms with the loss of a loved one. But the film also reveals their struggle for recognition and a sense of belonging in the country they call home. The relatives feel abandoned by the authorities and politicians alike because, despite many words of sympathy, they themselves are left to uncover the circumstances of the crime. In the process, they encounter the cold bureaucracy of a system that is woefully unprepared for such an attack – even though right-wing terror is a tragically commonplace part of German history.
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by Marcin Wierzchowski (Director, Screenplay) Germany 2025 German, Romanian, Turkish, English 132' Black/White World premiere | Debut film | Documentary form

Crew

Director 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

Produced by

milk&water

Strandfilm

Photos

In Focus

Marcin Wierzchowski

© Michael Zalewski

The filmmaker was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1984. His parents fled Poland for Germany and brought him along in their hand luggage. He dropped out of school and worked as a wine and a diamond dealer before starting to make a living as a decorator. This allowed him to travel the world. In between, he completed high school and studied philosophy for two semesters. He then ended up in the film class at the Mainz Academy of Fine Arts. Today, he is a director and producer of documentaries and is currently developing his first feature film projects.

Filmography (selection)

2018 Inventur des Verfalls (Inventory of Decay); installation 2021 Das Attentat von Hanau; short documentary · Eine Nacht und ihre Folgen; medium-length film 2022 Ich brenne; short film 2023 Polen an der Grenze 2025 Das Deutsche Volk

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025