As Germany is set to get a new chancellor, an acclaimed documentary examines the leadership and legacy of a previous chancellor – Angela Merkel.
The former head of the Christian Democratic Union, who served as chancellor for 16 years, played an enormously consequential role in her country’s history. One of her most important decisions came in 2015 when she allowed more than a million immigrants to enter Germany, many who were fleeing civil war in Syria. That move may have spurred the rise of the far-right nationalist AfD party, which came in second place in Bundestag elections on Sunday.
Merkel, directed by Eva Weber, premieres on digital and cable VOD on March 25 from Gravitas Ventures. Watch the trailer for the documentary above.
“Angela Merkel, the enigmatic first woman Chancellor of Germany, was Western Europe’s most powerful leader for years,” notes a synopsis. “Clear-eyed, cool-headed, diligent, and methodical, she put her politics first, setting ideology aside. An East German pastor’s daughter, Merkel re-invented herself after the fall of the Berlin Wall, often outsmarting and outstaying her male opponents in her historic Chancellorship of Germany.”
The synopsis continues, “Using vast archive materials and interviews with those who know her – friends, journalists, political allies, and critics – the film creates a rich portrait, from Merkel’s upbringing in communist East Germany, studies in quantum chemistry, her surprising start in politics and fast ascent. Merkel’s success came despite the double standards facing women leaders – the hard judgment and incessant scrutiny – and the film makes a case for politics marked by truth and integrity. It is a thoughtful re-examination of her life and career told with humor, subtlety, and poignancy.”
The documentary includes interviews with Merkel as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as well as Bernd Ulrich, Thomas De Maizière, Robert Kimmitt, Ralph Bollmann, Melissa Eddy, Robin Alexander, Dirk Kurbjuweit, Martin Schulz, Lord Mcdonald, Margaret Heckel, Stephen J. Hadley, Nico Fried, journalist Christiane Amanpour, Kristina Dunz, Roland Koch, Ben Rhodes, Susan Rice, Volker Schlöndorff, Annette Schavan, and Peer Steinbrück.