One Day in September
| One Day in September | |
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Cinema poster
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| Directed by | Kevin Macdonald |
| Produced by |
John Battsek Lillian Birnbaum Arthur Cohn Andrew Ruhemann |
| Narrated by | Michael Douglas |
| Cinematography | Neve Cunningham Alwin H. Küchler |
| Edited by | Justine Wright |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
One Day in September is a 1999 documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald examining the 5 September 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Michael Douglas provides the sparse narration throughout the film.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2000.
The documentary begins with an advertisement by the Munich Tourism Bureau with a beautiful young girl inviting the world to visit the city for the Olympics, then shows interviews with the wives of some of the murdered athletes, including Ankie Spitzer, widow of fencing coach Andre Spitzer. The film also features the first known filmed interview with Jamal Al-Gashey, a surviving terrorist. Al-Gashey, who is in hiding in Africa, wears a cap and sunglasses and his face is slightly blurred.
There are various shots of the Games getting under way, and attention is given to the lax security the Germans had at the Games. The terrorists are seen preparing for the assault; Al-Gashey claims that he and the other members were trained in Libya before going to West Germany to begin the assault.
The assault is described by Al-Gashey as well as by some of the German security staff present. Footage of ABC anchor Jim McKay is interspersed, along with sound clips of Peter Jennings, to give an impression of events unfolding as they happened. General Ulrich Wegener, founder of the German counter-terrorist unit GSG 9, was also interviewed during the film, and was roundly criticized for his seemingly flippant attitude about the subject matter.
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