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 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
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