Goebbels and the Führer: Film + Discussion

In collaboration with the Holocaust Education and Genocide Prevention Foundation, the Austrian Remembrance Service and the Austrian Cultural Forum

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, we invite you to the presentation of the docudrama Goebbels and the Führer, about the propaganda apparatus of the Nazi regime.

The screening will be preceded by an introduction on dis- and misinformation with Naomi Kramer, President of the Foundation for Holocaust Education and Genocide Prevention, and Maximilian Gottmann of the Austrian Remembrance Service.

RSVP: caroline.gagnon@goethe.de | 514-499-0159 # 107

Goebbels and the Führer (original title: Führer und Verführer)
Germany, Slovakia | 2024
Feature film with documentary parts
Director: Joachim Lang
With: Robert Stadlober, Fritz Karl, Franziska Weisz, Dominik Maringer, Moritz Führmann, Till Firit, Christoph Franken, Michael Glantschnig, Katia Fellin, Oliver Fleischer
Orignial version with English subtitles

Germany, 1938 – The work of Joseph Goebbels, head of propaganda, is having an effect: Adolf Hitler and the policies of the National Socialists are more popular with the German population than ever before. However, Goebbels’ and Hitler’s plans diverge, because while the propaganda strategist is aiming for stability, the dictator is determined to overrun Europe with a devastating war. So Goebbels changes his strategy, away from peace and security and towards an ideological radicalization of the population, helped by demagogic speeches and, not least, anti-Semitic hate films such as “Jud Süß” and “Der ewige Jude”. Millions of people fall victim to the regime’s megalomania, hunger for power and contempt for humanity – and ultimately also the cynical propagandist Goebbels and his “Führer” Hitler.

The script was based on Joseph Goebbels’ diaries, witness reports, letters and other surviving documents. It reconstructs the last seven years of the so-called “Third Reich”, from the “Anschluss” of Austria in March 1938 to the downfall and capitulation with murder and suicide in the Führerbunker in Berlin in May 1945. Old newsreels and archived film footage were incorporated into the plot, including scenes from the above-mentioned productions, allowing a look behind the scenes of Nazi propaganda and revealing the mechanisms and intertwinement of media dependent on governments, which have remained unchanged for years. The film also shows how dangerous the interaction between skilled demagogues and people who tend to radicalize their views is, and how topical this problem still is today.