‘Live On Air’ Featurette for 1972 Munich Olympics ‘September 5’ Film
by Alex Billington
December 5, 2024
Source: YouTube
“That’s a TV! Are they seeing what we’re seeing?” Paramount has revealed a new making of featurette video for the film September 5, one of the major Oscar contenders in play this awards season. The official trailer dropped a few months ago, and the film premiered at both the 2024 Venice & Telluride Film Fests earlier in the fall. During the 1972 Munich Olympics (on September 5th, 1972), an American sports broadcasting crew finds itself thrust into covering the hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes. The film focuses on the crew of the ABC Sports TV station that was located right inside the Olympic village, covering all the sports events live for the first time ever in TV history. The superb ensemble cast in the film includes Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch, Zinedine Soualem, Marcus Rutherford, Georgina Rich, Corey Johnson, Daniel Adeosun, Benjamin Walker, Ferdinand Dörfler. This featurette is more of a more detailed intro to the film and the story it’s telling, setting it up better than the trailer did. It’s a fascinating story of this TV crew at this moment having to decide then & there how to proceed. Great film.
Here’s the “Live On Air” promo featurette for Tim Fehlbaum’s film September 5, direct from YouTube:
You can rewatch the official trailer for Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5 right here, to see even more footage.
September 5 unveils the decisive moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to impact live news today. Set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the film follows an American Sports broadcasting team that quickly adapted from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage. At the heart of the story is Geoff (John Magaro), an ambitious producer striving to prove himself to his boss, legendary TV executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard). Together with German interpreter Marianne (Leonie Benesch) & his mentor Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), Geoff unexpectedly takes the helm of the live coverage. As narratives shift, time ticks away, and conflicting rumors spread, with the hostages’ lives hanging in the balance, he grapples with tough decisions while confronting his own moral compass. September 5 is directed by German filmmaker Tim Fehlbaum, director of the film The Colony previously plus a few other short films. The screenplay is by Moritz Binder & Tim Fehlbaum; co-written by Alex David. Produced by Fehlbaum, Philipp Trauer, Thomas Wöbke, Sean Penn, John Ira Palmer, John Wildermuth. This first premiered at the 2024 Venice & Telluride Film Festivals. Paramount opens Fehlbaum’s September 5 in select US theaters starting December 13th, 2024, then wide release January 17th, 2025 next year.