John Magaro and Leonie Benesch are at the center of one of the world's most harrowing events in September 5th. While acting for nearly 20 years, Magaro has found more mainstream success over the past decade with everything from Netflix's The Umbrella Academy and Orange is the new black for the Sopranos previous film, The Many Saints of Newarkand Oscar-nominated drama Past Lives. After working primarily in his native Germany, Benesch found international success with the Oscar-nominated film Teachers' Room and PBS/BBC One's Around the world in 80 days series.
September 5th takes viewers to the defining moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to impact live news today, in which an American sports broadcast team quickly adapted from sports reporting to live coverage of Israeli athletes taken hostage during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. Magaro, who previously appeared in Steven Spielberg's similarly themed thriller Munichis part of the focus of the film, playing ambitious young producer Geoffrey Mason who, with German interpreter Marianne Gebhardt (Benesch) and his mentor Marvin Bader, takes charge of the live, worldwide coverage of the situation.
Alongside Magaro and Benesch, the group September 5th cast includes Batmanby Peter Sarsgaard, The Nevers' Ben Chaplin, Zinedine Soualem, Corey Johnson, Georgina Rich, Rony Herman and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerIt's Benjamin Walker. The film comes from The Colony director Tim Fehlbaum, who also co-wrote the script for the true-story thriller with Moritz Binder and Alex David.
In anticipation of the film's limited release on December 13 TelaRant interviewed Leonie Benesch and John Magaro about their upcoming film, September 5th. They detail what they learned about the events of that fateful day while working on the film, as well as the pressure felt whenever you portray real-life people on screen. Benesch and Magaro also explain why they think people should see September 5th in theaters, despite the heavy subject matter and relevance to our world today.
Both Benesch and Magaro knew about September 5th (but not many details)
“I grew up without a TV. But I knew the image of the man on the porch with the mask.”
ScreenRant: Did you know a lot about the events of September 5ththe story before working on the film?
Leonie Benesch: Well, not really. No. I didn't know any details. I grew up without a TV. But I knew the image of the man on the balcony with the mask, and I knew about the massacre, about what happened that day, but I had no idea about the media circus. I didn't know it was a 22-hour live broadcast, and that it was sports journalists covering news and everything. I also didn't know to what extent the German authorities failed all those people at that time.
John Magaro: I remember growing up and there would be things happening, maybe birthdays, or whenever the Olympics were on, there would be a little special feature about it. Then I remember hearing about the events of that day, but I didn't know the details. I certainly didn't know that the issue was covered by a team of sports journalists, and not just a proper news team. So this was all new to me.
I also didn't know that it was the first time that an event like this was shown live to the whole world and how much it changed and for how many people. This was all new to me.
Benesch knew the writing team wouldn't mess it up
Magaro also recalls the “Tremendous responsibility“To pay homage to real-life figures
Is there pressure associated with something that depicts something that actually happened?
John Magaro: Of course, especially something where lives were lost. I think we all feel a huge responsibility towards the victims and towards the current tragedies that are still occurring. I think there was just a responsibility to get it right. Also to all the people who were in that control room that day, for making the experience so authentic, because it was clearly traumatic for all of them as well. So I think we all feel an obligation to that.
Leonie Benesch: But I always felt safe because Tim Fehlbaum, the director and co-writer of the script, and Moritz Binder, did tons and tons of research. I felt like I could be sure they wouldn't screw it up.
Benesch and Magaro hope viewers will think about their news consumption after watching
“…really made me question my own consumption, especially of violent news.”
It still feels relevant in this world today. What do you hope people take away September 5th?
Leonie Benesch: I always struggle a little bit with this thing of, I hope people understand this about the world, because I don't think I'm in a position to teach anyone anything, but I really like this movie because it makes me reconsider some of the things I have. taken for granted when it comes to media consumption, especially news. I think the film raises some really interesting questions about that. I hope people ask themselves that question.
John Magaro: I used to be a 24-hour news junkie, and so after doing this and going in and seeing how the sauce is made, it really made me question my own consumption, especially of violent news, which has become so common nowadays. I realized how desensitized I had become, where I could see bombings and people dying and then play video games. It's shocking. I think we've become like that. So I hope audiences walk away and question their own consumption of such tragic events.
On September 5th
September 5 reveals the defining moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to impact live news today. Set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the film follows an American sports broadcast team who quickly adapted from sports reporting to live coverage of Israeli athletes taken hostage. Through this lens, “September 5th” offers a new perspective on the live broadcast seen globally by an estimated one billion people at the time.
At the center of the story is Geoff (John Magaro), an ambitious young producer who struggles to prove himself to his boss, legendary TV executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard). Together with German interpreter Marianne (Leonie Benesch) and his mentor Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), Geoff unexpectedly takes charge of the live coverage. As narratives change, time passes and conflicting rumors spread, with the hostages' lives at stake, Geoff faces difficult decisions while confronting his own moral compass.
Check out our others September 5th interviews here:
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Peter Sarsgaard and Ben Chaplin
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Director Tim Fehlbaum and Producer John Palmer
Source: ScreenRant Plus