Björn Höcke

After the end of the GDR, thrashings, threats and hunts were part of everyday life. In the years after the reunification of the early 1990s, hatred, racism and violence against foreigners and supporters of leftist ideology broken out in Eastern Germany. Most of those involved was young people. In many cities and towns, the streets and squares belonged to the right-wing scene, organized in neo-Nazi comradeships. Bomber jackets, combat boots and the Hitler salute showed the intimidated rest where they were. The baseball bat was a popular weapon. There were riots, attacks on asylum seekers' homes, mass brawls and hunt downs to those who look or think differently. It doesn't took long and the first deaths were to be mourned. The majority of the Eastern German population looked the other way or even applauded the deeds. A bad omen for the political development of later years. In six film segments, a team of authors take a look at the time reflected in interviews with contemporary witnesses.

Structurally weak and sparsely populated regions of Germany, especially in the north, such as Mecklenburg Switzerland, attract a very special form of ideologically extreme right-wing colonists. Nationalist settlers. The documentary goes on exploration, analyzes their historical roots and describes their influence in today's burgeoning right-wing scene.

Left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht’s working day is marked by applause and admiration but also doubts and intrigues. This film follows her and her team: from the 2017 election campaign to her withdrawal from political leadership in 2019.

The AfD, founded in 2013, is a right-wing party that has become increasingly radicalized in recent years. To illustrate this, only those who enthusiastically joined the party in its early years are heard. They describe what they looked for and found in the party, but also how and why they left, disillusioned and frightened by the AfD's developments. How did they experience the party's radicalization process? How did friends and family react? When and why did they decide to turn their back on the party? How difficult was the exit process? The documentary provides an illuminating inside view of this party, which has been driving the established parties and the political establishment ahead of it for over ten years, gives viewers a unique look into the AfD's chronicle and world of thought and is at the same time a film about the mechanisms of political radicalization.

Since the massacre by the terrorist organization Hamas on October 7, 2023, it has been clear that anti-Semitism is also a massive problem in Germany. The media reports on anti-Semitic incidents almost every day. Jews no longer feel safe and are often victims of discrimination and hatred. More than 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, Jewish life in Germany is still often exposed to anti-Semitic hostility. Schools, kindergartens and synagogues must be guarded. In the wake of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on German streets, aggressive anti-Semitic agitation by angry Islamist mobs is increasingly occurring. Politics is failing to act on its promise. But the breeding ground for this is older. The documentary attempts to show that, based on age-old hatred, stereotypes and prejudices, anti-Semitism from the right-wing, from left-progressive circles and the middle of society is omnipresent in Germany.

The right-wing extremist German party AfD believes it will be at the gates of power in 2024. With a view to the federal state elections this year, people are dreaming of absolute majorities and of a Prime Minister Björn Höcke in Thuringia. In view of current survey results, this is by no means an unrealistic scenario. But what would a country led by a right-wing extremist party specifically mean for democracy, human rights and social justice in Germany? Sure: the future cannot be predicted – or can it? The makers of the documentary dare to experiment and use artificial intelligence to ask what the future would look like under an AfD-led government. This much can be revealed: the answers paint an extremely bleak picture. MONITOR research shows that the fiction of AI is no longer that far removed from reality!

Fakt ist!

Oliver Welke and his team report on political topics as well as international news giving them their own satirical, comedic twist.