The Meaning of Hitler

Using Sebastian Haffner’s eponymous 1978 bestselling book as its frame, the film is a provocative interrogation of our culture’s fascination with Hitler and Nazism set against the backdrop of the current rise of white supremacy, the normalization of antisemitism and the weaponization of history itself.

The The Meaning of Hitler - Poster 1

The Meaning of Hitler

Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker

  • Documentary
Production Country / Year
United States 2020
Language
en., de. OF mit en. UT
Format
DCP, Color, 88min
1.85:1, Discrete 5.1

Director & Crew

Petra Epperlein 1

Petra Epperlein

Born 1966 in Karl Marx City/GDR. Work as an architect. Active as a director, producer and script writer.

Filmography

1998 THE LAST COWBOY (Co-Regie), Kurzfilm

2004 GUNNER PALACE (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2006 THE PRISONER OR: HOW I PLANNED TO KILL TONY BLAIR (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2008 BULLETPROOF SALESMAN (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2009 HOW TO FOLD A FLAG (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2011 FIGHTVILLE (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2012 IN YOUR HEAD (Co-Regie) Kurzfilm

2013 THE FLAG (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2016 KARL MARX CITY (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2017 CLOWNS (Co-Regie), Kurzfilm

2017 11/8/16 (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2020 THE MEANING OF HITLER (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm HOF 2021

Michael Tucker

Born in 1966 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Active as a director, cameraman and script writer.

Filmography

1998 THE LAST COWBOY (Co-Regie), Kurzfilm

2004 GUNNER PALACE (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2006 THE PRISONER OR: HOW I PLANNED TO KILL TONY BLAIR (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2008 BULLETPROOF SALESMAN (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2009 HOW TO FOLD A FLAG (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2011 FIGHTVILLE (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2012 IN YOUR HEAD (Co-Regie) Kurzfilm

2013 THE FLAG (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2016 KARL MARX CITY (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2017 CLOWNS (Co-Regie), Kurzfilm

2017 11/8/16 (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm

2020 THE MEANING OF HITLER (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm HOF 2021

“This film has been made over the course of four volatile years, beginning just as the UK decided to Brexit, far-right nationalists were gaining ground across Europe, and America was grappling with the improbable rise of Donald Trump in the 2016 election. It seemed that the world was sliding backwards into darkness. How was that possible? Had history lost all its meaning? That was how we began looking for answers. […]

Israeli historian Saul Friedlander […] believes that Nazi staging was at once about creating a spectacle for the present and a message for future. In a world of unlimited and unmoderated content, it’s possible that we’ve been unwittingly propagating propaganda that was purpose-built by the Nazis to transmit their ideological virus into the future. Which begs no small question: how can you responsibly explore such past without contributing to Nazism’s rehabilitation?

Rather than relying on dubious propaganda images to tell the story, we set out to explore the past through the lens of the present by visiting key locations in Hitler’s life, a journey that quickly revealed just how difficult it is to come to terms with the past.”

Writer
Michael Tucker
Editor
Michael Tucker
Sound
Cj Degenarro
Music Composer
Alexander Kliment
Executive Producer
Anthony Dobkin
Jeffrey Lurie
Marie Therese Guirgis
Producer
Petra Epperlein
Michael Tucker
Mike Lerner
Dana O’Keefe