Goethe-Kino
Johannes Naber: Curveball - A True Story. Unfortunately.

Goethe-Kino

Wed, 26.05.2021
7:00 PM Goethe-Institut London

Iraq 1997, Wolf from the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and Leslie from the CIA are part of a UN team that, after an unsuccessful search for weapons of mass destruction, is informed that the mission is cancelled and that they should return to their home countries. Wolf, back at the headquarters of the BND in Germany, is still convinced that Iraq produces anthrax viruses and could attack the West. When the BND gets hold of an alleged informant called Rafid Alwan, Wolf is given the task of questioning this man who claims to have worked as an engineer on Saddam Hussein's secret bioweapons programme. However, Rafid makes the disclosure of his insider knowledge subject to certain conditions as he is afraid of having to return to Iraq. But is his information actually credible? And, given this uncertainty, why are the BND and CIA so interested in using his statements in their favour? A global political disaster is looming.

The multiple award-winning director Johannes Naber (including for his directorial debut The Albanian) and his co-author Oliver Keidel undertook detailed research for the film’s screenplay. They have worked their findings into a razor-sharp indictment of a politics that is more focused on image than on uncovering the truth. We witness a power struggle between secret services whose satirical portrayal is amusing, but also sends a chill down our spine considering the tragic events we now know followed in Iraq.

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Germany, 2020, color, 108 min., with English subtitles.
Directed by Johannes Naber. With Sebastian Blomberg, Dar Salim, Virginia Kull, Michael Wittenborn, Thorsten Merten.