18/02/2025 - BERLINALE 2025: Marcin Wierzchowski’s film is a compelling portrait of a nation in crisis and an unflinching look at the 2020 Hanau attack

Premiered in the Berlinale Special sidebar of the Berlin International Film Festival, Marcin Wierzchowski’s latest documentary, Das Deutsche Volk [+see also:
interview: Marcin Wierzchowski
film profile], offers a harrowing account of the notorious racist attack that shook Hanau, Germany, on 19 February 2020. Told through the eyes of bereaved relatives and survivors, the film exposes the systemic failures that compounded their suffering, highlighting the struggle for recognition and justice in a country still grappling with its far-right extremism.

Within mere minutes, nine young people were murdered because the perpetrator refused to see them as German. Over the course of four years, Wierzchowski followed the victims’ families as they processed their grief and sought answers. The documentary portrays not only their mourning, but also their painful realisation that they must fight to uncover the truth about the crime. Moreover, the picture successfully underscores how institutional indifference – bureaucratic coldness, sluggish investigations and delayed family notifications – deepens the wounds left by such tragedies.

Shot in stark black and white, and lensed by the director himself with Peter Peiker, Das Deutsche Volk adopts a predominantly observational approach, blending controlled interviews, some sparse interactions and raw, unembellished footage. Luckily enough, the aesthetic choice adds a layer of solemnity without sensationalising the pain. Moreover, the instrumental score – courtesy of Louisa Beck and Kaan Bulak – while dramatic and emotional, eschews excessive sentimentality, allowing the testimonies to take centre stage.

The family of 22-year-old Vili Viorel Păun, a Romanian victim who tried to stop the attacker, emerges as a focal point. His mother poignantly states, “Foreignness? They weren’t foreigners…” while his father contrasts the permanence of their loss with fleeting crises, remarking, “This is not like COVID; this lasts forever.” Their words encapsulate the profound alienation felt by the victims’ families, who faced not only immense personal loss, but also institutional neglect.

Beyond the bereaved, survivors recount the horror of being certain they would die. One couple describes the distressing post-mortem process, highlighting further indignities – such as a victim’s body being classified as “Eastern Mediterranean”. We also realise how the police response was woefully inadequate, with corpses left unattended for hours and some families informed of their loved ones’ deaths more than 24 hours later. Wierzchowski underscores a justice system unprepared to confront racist violence, where the authorities seemed more preoccupied with preserving public image than addressing the root causes of the attack.

“In this country, nothing is more important than normality,” declares a protester at a commemorative rally, quoting a CDU politician’s words that really encapsulate officialdom’s reluctance to confront hard truths. Das Deutsche Volk stands as a vivid testament to a nation in crisis, mirroring the broader failures of Western integration policies and warning of rising tensions as far-right extremism gains traction. Its release is particularly timely, coinciding with the upcoming German elections, where the populist AfD party leads in most polls.

Das Deutsche Volk is a German production staged by milk&water and co-produced by Strandfilm.