• Director: Tim Fehlbaum
• Screenwriter: Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David
• Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch
• Cinematography: Markus Förderer
• Editing: Hansjörg Weißbrich
• Score: Lorenz Dangel
• Genre: Historical drama thriller
• Runtime: 94 minutes

September 5th 1972. The eyes of the globe are on Munich, host city of the Summer Olympic Games, the first of such to be broadcast live (and in colour). It’s a Germany keen to improve their image post-World War II. The Palestinian terrorist organisation, Black September, have other ideas, taking the Israeli team hostage whilst demanding the freedom of Palestinian prisoners.

Unlike Steven Spielberg’s ‘Munich’, which focused on the revenge assassinations carried out by Mossad agents against those suspected of being Arab militants in the years after, the compelling ‘September 5’ delves right into the frenzy of the situation from the perspective of the ABC Sports crew tasked with broadcasting the Olympics; their job transformed from transmitting major moments like swimming champion Mark Spitz’s gold medal win to a mad scramble to report the unfolding drama before a rival TV channel can.

The timing of the film couldn’t be more apt – the thorny Arab-Israel conflict is still raging on, 50 years plus. As we witness events from the point of view of television staffers, we’re on neutral ground. What unfolds is a tragedy no matter what your religious/political leanings may be.

The time period is authentically captured; detuned lenses and the use of analogue technology – the workers had to do things painstakingly by hand, making their efforts all the more impressive (a whopping 900 million viewers watched the coverage). The lack of any ‘big name stars’ (aside from maybe Peter Sarsgaard) helps add an additional level of genuineness; almost as if these are real people thrown into circumstances they didn’t think they’d be dealing with when they woke up that morning.

It really was a ‘black’ September – 11 members of the Israeli Olympic sports team were killed (6 coaches and 5 athletes), as well as a German police officer.

My rating: 8 / 10