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MERKEL

Die Getriebenen (The Driven Ones)

Stephan Wagner | 2020 | 118 MINS
Germany | Subtitles
Germany - UK Premiere Angela Merkel’s decision in Autumn 2015 to open the borders for refugees split the country – some praised the moral stance; others criticized the surrender of sovereignty. This film is a non-fiction thriller on her state of mind as a refugee crisis changed the relationship between chancellor and her people.

In Detail

Yet what would appear to be well-planned activity is in reality a policy of muddling along, chance, trial and error. ‘The Driven Ones’ is a chronicle of the refugee crisis which shows that the political actors are being driven along, crushed between self-imposed constraints and events that have spun out of control. The film develops a certain pull, a dramaturgy of simultaneity.

In some places the screen is divided into several frames, which emphasize the interconnectedness of the various decisions and their protagonists who have to react on the spur of the moment. Imogen Kogge’s portrayal of Angela Merkel is particularly reminiscent of Helen Mirren’s Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears’ ‘The Queen’, a mixture of the private with the public and the professional is inevitable.

Our thanks to Bavarian Media for this film.

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