Die Wannseekonferenz, international title The Conference, is a German TV docudrama, first aired January 24, 2022 by the ZDF broadcaster, about the Wannsee Conference held in Berlin–Wannsee in 1942 to organise the extermination of the Jews.
Background
Director Matti Geschonneck shows a reenactment of the real Wannsee Conference held January 20, 1942, based on a script by Magnus Vattrodt. German Nazi officials meet midst the Second World War to determine the so-called “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”. It is not the beginning of the Shoah but it is a meeting to coordinate various government branches for carrying out the destruction of Jews.[1][2]

Cast
- Philipp Hochmair as Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA)
- Johannes Allmayer as Adolf Eichmann, Head of RSHA IV B4
- Sascha Nathan as Dr. Josef Bühler
- Arnd Klawitter as Dr. Roland Freisler, for the Reich Ministry of Justice
- Markus Schleinzer as Otto Hofmann
- Fabian Busch as Dr. Gerhard Klopfer
- Thomas Loibl as Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger
- Frederic Linkemann as Dr. Rudolf Lange
- Rafael Stachowiak as Georg Leibbrandt
- Simon Schwarz as Martin Luther
- Peter Jordan as Dr. Alfred Meyer
- Jakob Diehl as Heinrich Müller, Chief of RSHA Department IV (the Gestapo)
- Matthias Bundschuh as Erich Neumann
- Maximilian Brückner as Dr. Eberhard Schöngarth
- Godehard Giese as Wilhelm Stuckart, for the Reich Ministry for the Interior
- Lilli Fichtner as Ingeburg Werlemann
- Frederik Schmid as Eichmann’s adjutant
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 10 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[5]
Awards and nominations
- 2022: Best Film Made for Television
- 2022: Best Writing Fiction – Paul Mommertz and Magnus Vattrodt
- 2022: Best Actor – Philipp Hochmair (Nominee)
- 2022: Best Directing Fiction – Matti Geschonneck (Nominee)
- 2023: Fiction
Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival
- 2022: Best Film[8]
New York Festivals TV & Film Awards
- 2022: Feature Films (Gold Award)[11]
- 2022: Favorite Actor – Philipp Hochmair (Reinhard Heydrich)[12]
- 2022: Best Film TV/Stream – Friederich Oetker and Reinhold Elschot[13]
- 2022: Best Writing TV/Stream – Magnus Vattrodt and Paul Mommertz[13]
- 2022: Best European TV Film[14]
Günter-Rohrbach-Filmpreis
- 2022: Best Film[15]
Fernsehfilmfestival Baden-Baden
See also
- Heinz Schirk (director): The Wannsee Conference, a 1984 German TV film
- Conspiracy – a 2001 English language film
- Fatherland – an alternate history novel dealing in large part with the Wannsee Conference – 1992
- List of Holocaust films
References
- ^ Peter Kümmel: Unter Verbrechern (Amongst Perpetrators). In: Die Zeit. 20 January 2022. Feuilleton.
- ^ Wolfgang Höbel: Die Brillanz des Bösen. (The Brilliance of Evil) Der Spiegel #3/2022. 15 January 2022, pp 120–121: A nearly “normal” meeting of bureaucrats for optimising of the mass murder (transl.)
- ^ GHWK, Berlin – Dauerausstellung “Die Besprechung am Wannsee und der Mord an den europäischen Jüdinnen und Juden”
- ^ ’80 Years Ago the Nazis Planned the ‘Final Solution.’ It Took 90 Minutes. As Germany observes the anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, witnesses of the Nazi era are dying … ‘ NYT 21 January 2022
- ^ “Die Wannseekonferenz“. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Der Deutsche Fernsehpreis. “Preisträger:innen 2022”. Deutscher Fernsehpreis 2022 (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-24.
- ^ Grimme Preis. “Preisträger:innen – Grimme-Preis 2023”. Grimme Preis (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-21.
- ^ “The conference and the accusation, the big winners of the BCN Film Fest”. bcnfilmfest.com. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- ^ “Ausgezeichnete Programme 2022” (in German). Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- ^ “CIVIS Medienpreis 2022 für “Schwarze Adler” und “Die Wannseekonferenz”“ (in German). Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- ^ “Newyorkfestivals.com: Winner’s List”. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
- ^ “Beliebtester Schauspieler Film 2022: Philipp Hochmair” (in German). 23 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
- ^ a b APA. “Elf Auszeichnungen für ORF-(Ko-)Produktionen bei den “ROMY”-Branchenpreisen”. Ots.at. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
- ^ “PRIX EUROPA 2022 Winners”. PRIX EUROPA. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
- ^ “Günter Rohrbach Filmpreis |” (in German). Retrieved 2022-11-06.
- ^ “TeleVisionale Film- und Serienfestival Baden-Baden: ORF-Landkrimi “Vier” gewinnt Fernsehfilmpreis 2022″. OTS.at (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-10.
- ^ deutschlandfunkkultur.de (26 November 2022). “TeleVisionale: Bester deutscher Fernsehfilm 2022 ist “Vier” – 3sat-Publikumspreis für “Die Wannseekonferenz”“. Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-10.
External links
- Die Wannseekonferenz Press release in the Press portal of the ZDF
- Die Wannseekonferenz (2022, en The Wannsee Conference)
- Die Wannseekonferenz at IMDb
- Matti Geschonneck at IMDb
- Catalogue, exhibition – The Meeting at Wannsee and the Murder of the European Jews