Whose story? New Oscar nominated film September 5 evokes the tension and dilemmas of live crisis reporting

The Guardian

31-01-2025

In a darkened broadcasting control room, a team of sports journalists covering the 1972 Munich Olympics for ABC television realise to their horror that they have been thrust entirely unprepared into covering a terrifying global news event: a hostage crisis in the Olympic village that would come to be known as the Munich massacre.
The Munich Games were already a broadcasting landmark: the first time people on five continents could watch the Olympics live. But it also became the first time a terrorist attack would unfold live in front of a global television audience in real time, with all the ethical and practical dilemmas that entailed. The journalists' predicaments and groundbreaking efforts are depicted in September 5, a new film that provides a fresh perspective on the production and consumption of news content.
Journalism is one of the more oft-portrayed professions on the big screen. Hollywood's fascination with the work of real-life reporters has given us countless classics, including All the President's Men (1976), The Insider (1999), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Spotlight (2015) and The Post (2017), along with more recent films, such as She Said (2022).
From left, Peter Sarsgaard as Roone Arledge, Ben Chaplin as Marvin Bader and John Magaro as Geoff Mason
But while films about journalists have typically focused on the intrigue of investigative reporting or the risks undertaken by frontline war correspondents, few movies have examined the challenges and dilemmas of live broadcasting, when journalists are forced to make razor-thin decisions about how to cover an unfolding news story under immense pressure.
September 5 therefore offers a rare insight into the media, conveying the white-knuckle drama of live news from within a broadcast control room as the ABC reporters, editors and producers grapple with an urgent cascade of moral and logistical challenges.
Tim Fehlbaum, the film's director and co-writer, explains why he wanted the film to focus on the quandaries the journalists faced: 'We seek to raise ethical questions – which are as germane now as they were then – about the responsibilities and impacts of crisis reporting and our consumption of it.'
September 5 recounts the decisions and actions of the ABC sports team after Palestinian terrorists from the Black September group killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team and took another nine of its athletes hostage. The ABC team, suddenly responsible for the subsequent 22 hours of live coverage, included legendary TV executive Roone Arledge (played by Peter Sarsgaard), producer Geoff Mason (played by John Magaro), and his mentor Marvin Bader (played by Ben Chaplin).
September 5 evokes the heated atmosphere in the control room as groundbreaking decisions are made
The frantic intensity of their challenge is compounded by the film-makers' decision to set September 5 almost entirely in the control room and studio. The chaos of the day's events is seen entirely from the journalists' point of view, evoking the heated drama and tension. 'The audience should experience the intensity of the live coverage with the characters, and be there when moral decisions have to be made against the backdrop of a constantly ticking clock,' says Fehlbaum.
The film, which has been nominated for an Oscar for best original screenplay, ramps up the immersive experience by cleverly incorporating the original ABC footage. It was even played on the monitors in the control room during filming, which means that the actors were reacting in real time to the authentic ABC footage instead of performing against green screens. 'Working with the real footage was a total gamechanger,' says Magaro. 'It was like another cast member.'
The film-makers used original blueprints to reconstruct the control room and restored vintage equipment sourced from collectors and museums
Indeed, part of what makes September 5 so striking is the way its insights into journalism are combined with its painstaking approach to recreating the analogue technology that the ABC team used. The film-makers reconstructed the control room using the original blueprints and restored the vintage equipment, sourced from collectors and museums, to working order.
The technological challenges are central to the story – whether the journalists are trying to install a bulky studio camera opposite the apartment where the hostages are being held, or smuggling 16mm film reels in and out of the cordoned-off Olympic village by taping them to the torso of ABC employee Gary Slaughter (played by Daniel Adeosun), who disguises himself as a member of the US track team.
The technology is also central to the dilemmas the journalists confront, such as what can be shown live on air, and what happens if their broadcasts start influencing actual events – for instance when their live footage of a rescue attempt by West German police is watched on a TV set by the terrorists.
Daniel Adeosun as Gary Slaughter, who taped film reels to his torso to smuggle them in and out of the Olympic village
It's as if each technical solution the journalists devise throws up new ethical questions – questions that feel equally pertinent in today's digital news era. As Chaplin's character says in the film: 'Black September know the whole world is watching ... If they shoot someone on live television, whose story is that – is it ours or is it theirs?'
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Peter Sarsgaard (plays Roone Arledge)Sarsgaard recently starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the TV series Presumed Innocent. He was nominated for an Emmy for his role alongside Michael Keaton in the TV series Dopesick. Last year, he won the Coppa Volpi at the 80th Mostra in Venice for Best Actor for his performance in Michel Franco's Memory (2023).
In September 5, he plays Roone Arledge, the president of ABC Sports at that time. Arledge is considered the inventor and formative pioneer of modern sports reporting, and was declared one of the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine.
John Magaro (Geoff Mason)Magaro most recently appeared in Celine Song's Past Lives (2023) and Tolga Karaçelik's The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2024). His filmography also includes The Big Short (2015) and Carol (2015). This year, he will appear alongside his September 5 co-star Sarsgaard, Christian Bale and Penélope Cruz in Maggie Gyllenhaal's Frankenstein story The Bride (2025).
In September 5 he plays Geoff Mason, an up-and-coming producer at the time of the Munich Olympics whose career in sports broadcasting went on to include seven Olympics, six World Cups, multiple America's Cup races and Björn Borg v John McEnroe at Wimbledon. He won 26 Emmy awards and was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
From top left: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch and Tim Fehlbaum
Ben Chaplin (Marvin Bader)Chaplin has played a journalist before, in the BBC drama series Press (2018). His most recent work includes the TV series The Nevers and the Netflix film The Dig (2021). He also appeared on the big screen in the Ian McEwan adaptation The Children Act (2017). After rising to fame in the comedy The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996) alongside Uma Thurman, he has appeared in a host of films including Oliver Stone's Snowden (2016) and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998).
In September 5, he plays Marvin Bader, who oversaw 10 Olympics productions between 1968 and 1992, created the modern accreditation system for sports crews, and was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. He was known for staying on top of the details and being the voice of reason in difficult situations – attributes that come to the fore in September 5.
Leonie Benesch (Marianne Gebhardt)Benesch is one of Germany's most sought-after actors. She had her breakthrough with one of the leading roles in Michael Haneke's feature film The White Ribbon (2009), which won the Palme d'Or in Cannes. She also starred in the Netflix series The Crown and the German-French-Italian series Around the World in 80 Days alongside David Tennant. She won the German Film Award for Best Actress for her role in Ilker Çatak's The Teachers' Lounge.
In September 5, she plays a fictional character Marianne Gebhardt, a German translator for the ABC sports crew, who is based on several people who were in the control room at the time. As well as relaying crucial updates from West German police, she provides context about the Munich Olympics and its importance to postwar Germany.
Tim Fehlbaum (director, screenwriter, producer)Swiss director Fehlbaum made his feature film debut with the bleak post-apocalyptic thriller Hell, for which he also co-wrote the screenplay. His 2021 science-fiction thriller film Tides premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in the Berlinale Special section and subsequently won several awards, including four German Film Awards.
SEPTEMBER 5
In cinemas February 6
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