Seeds of terror
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Seeds of terror |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German , Hindi , English , Urdu |
| Publishing year | 2018 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Daniel Harrich |
| script |
Gert Heidenreich , Daniel Harrich |
| production |
Danuta Harrich-Zandberg , Walter Harrich , Daniel Harrich |
| music | Ian Honeyman |
| camera | Gernot Roll |
| cut | Constantin Dauch |
| occupation | |
| |
Saat des Terrors is the fourth investigative feature film by filmmaker and Grimme Prize winner Daniel Harrich from 2018. Using the example of the Pakistani secret service Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the film covers the entanglements of Western secret services , above all the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), with partner organizations that also actively support terrorists . Although the Pakistani secret service ISI has been shown to have supported the attacks in Mumbai in 2008 , in which more than 160 people, including many Western citizens, were murdered, the BND is still working closely with the ISI. The diwafilm production on behalf of SWR , BR , RBB , SR and ARD Degeto is part of the ARD themed evening "Saat des Terror" on November 21, 2018.
The plot is based on the filmmakers' years of journalistic research into the attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 and the role of the US double agent David Coleman Headley . Headley worked at the same time for several Western secret services, the Pakistani secret service ISI and the terrorist organizations Laschkar-e Taiba and al-Qaida . He is considered to be the inventor of the modern terror strategy of marauding commandos who murderously roam a big city, as in Mumbai in 2008 and later in the attack on the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels in 2014 , the attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris, and the attacks in Copenhagen in 2015 and the terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015 in Paris .
Political premieres
The premieres of “Saat des Terrors” took place at the highest political level in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament and the Baden-Württemberg state representative in Berlin . The political panel discussion in Berlin was attended by Gerhard Schindler , former president of the Federal Intelligence Service, Clemens Binninger , former CDU member of the Bundestag and chairman of the 2nd NSU investigative committee of the Bundestag ("Terror Group NSU II") , Stefan Liebich , foreign policy spokesman for the LINKS parliamentary group in the Bundestag , SWR journalist Thomas Reutter and Daniel Harrich took part. The moderation was the editor-in-chief of ARD Rainald Becker .
action
Pakistan , 2008. Jana Wagner works for the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) in Islamabad. In close cooperation with the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Jana is responsible for the fight against drug trafficking, with which Islamist terrorist groups from Pakistan finance their activities in Afghanistan and other countries.
When the well-connected James Logan Davis, an informant from Jana and her American colleague Stephen Walker, talked about a major impending drug deal in Lahore, they contacted Colonel Baqri from the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI ), who is officially on the side of the West in the fight against al-Qaida and its business. But instead of arresting the drug couriers and handing them over to the western secret services, the ISI has them executed.
Jana is beside herself - and her distrust of Baqri is aroused. He is looking for her closeness and refers to his training in Germany; but it also makes it clear that the mistrust is mutual. As long as the Pakistanis are needed by the West in counter-terrorism, they are welcome conversation and business partners. As soon as the acute danger has been averted or politicians set other priorities, Pakistan will be dropped again. Colonel Baqri disapproves of this policy.
Jana is worried and can only share her worries with the security officer Nicholas Krüger, whom she trusts completely. James Logan Davis' Pakistani wife Lamia has confided that her husband is a double agent who uses his work for the Western intelligence services to unhindered on behalf of the terrorist organization Laschkar-e Taiba to investigate attack targets in Mumbai .
Jana believes Lamia Davis and wants to help her escape to the West. But in contrast to Nicholas and her local translator Tariq Usmani, her boss Thomas Günther does not want to hear about the suspicion. He thinks the whole thing is more of a trap. And when Jana finds out that Davis also works for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Günther strictly forbids her to research the matter further.
Jana becomes suspicious: who's holding a protective hand over James Logan Davis? And why? Everything she learns about his activities strengthens her suspicions that Davis is indeed a double agent and that attacks in Mumbai are imminent.
It is obvious that there are interests that nobody wants to talk to her about and that are presumably controlled by the CIA. Jana now also believes it is possible that threatened attacks cannot be prevented because of these interests.
She officially takes a vacation and secretly follows Davis to Mumbai, observing and photographing him scouting places and places. But their private use does not remain secret. Not only Davis noticed them, the Indian secret service made contact. Jana does not reveal anything, but promises future information to Pakistan's mortal enemy to prevent an attack.
Back in Pakistan, the ISI picks them up. Jana got caught between all fronts. Jana's boss Thomas Günther foams with anger: Her excursion has also not gone unnoticed. The Pakistani government has complained about Jana. But she is given a chance: at a briefing with the Americans, she can openly express her concerns. The head of the CIA in Pakistan has just vigorously ironed out their thesis of the double agent and the impending attacks when a bomb goes off in the hotel and kills Nicholas Krüger. An attack by the Taliban, emphasizes Colonel Baqri, who are increasingly shifting their tactics to Western targets.
Jana sees herself confirmed in a tragic way and uses an extraordinary means: With the help of translator Tariq as a middleman, she informs the Indian secret service. Vain. Before her contact person can do anything, he is killed and Jana herself is accused of spying for al-Qaeda and expelled. She was about to leave the country when news of a terrible series of attacks in Mumbai spread around the world.
After her time in Pakistan, Jana Wagner switched to European counter-terrorism, where she should prevent Islamic State terrorists from reaching Europe. The investigators track down a lead from a terrorist cell, but let her go to investigate her modus operandi. The terrorists go into hiding and attack Paris on November 13, 2015.
Jana testifies before the Parliamentary Control Committee in the German Bundestag and ends the film with the sentence: “Our security authorities are jointly responsible for what is happening in our cities in Europe now. We are fighting against a system that we created ourselves: Out of political ignorance, presumptuousness and arrogance. We have made terror a business model. An extremely lucrative business that is now coming back to us. We thought we could just export our model of society, but instead we imported terror. We all pay the price. "
background
The core of the research is the "business model terror": While the Pakistani secret service ISI is officially one of the most important partners of the Western alliance in the war on terror , it secretly supports precisely the terrorist organizations it is supposed to fight - for example Laschkar-e Taiba, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Haqqani network . The aim is to continue fueling the conflict in order to receive further aid and support and to remain politically relevant. The former head of the ISI General Asad Durrani says in the documentary “Trace of Terror”: “Everyone who is good plays a double game. It is important to play the game well. "
The double game of the Pakistani secret service ISI has been known for many years, as several former heads of Western intelligence services have confirmed. Nevertheless, they continue to work together to this day.
The documentation on the theme evening "Saat des Terror", "Spur des Terror", shows through interviews with the former heads of the secret service, the problematic cooperation of the authorities. Among other things come Michael Hayden , longtime director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the CIA, Asad Durrani , former head of the Pakistani intelligence service ISI, Ernst Uhrlau and Gerhard Schindler , both former BND president, Markus Potzel , Special Representative of the Federal Government for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sanjeev Tripathi and Vikram Sood , both former heads of the Indian intelligence service Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), have their say.
premiere
The investigative feature film "Saat des Terrors" ran for the first time on November 21, 2018 at 8:15 pm, reached almost five million viewers and was the most successful Wednesday film (90 minutes) of the year. The unveiling documentary "Trace of Terror" followed at 9.45 pm and had 3.51 million viewers.
Effects
On November 28, 2018, “Saat des Terror” was the topic in the German Bundestag . On December 12th, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag met on the question of where and whether there must be limits for the Federal Intelligence Service to work with partner services that also actively support terrorists. The Bundestag member Stefan Liebich said afterwards: “Some operations by the Federal Intelligence Service in Pakistan have endangered the security of Germany and enabled terrorist organizations to carry out their deadly attacks. The service operates without rules, without ethos and apparently without extensive responsibility. "
Reviews
The film was largely perceived as positive, relevant and politically highly explosive.
“Could secret services have prevented the terrorist attacks? 'Saat des Terrors', photographed by Gernot Roll in the look of international spy crackers, takes a look into the engine room of a dirty shop, where a lot of money changes hands and the western secret services, with the exception of the disaffected protagonist, don't seem to understand that they are part of the Problems are. Or they accept it. "
“Terror business model. Pakistan's work and Germany's contribution: The ARD themed evening 'Saat des Terrors' traces how Western secret services were involved in the 2008 Mumbai terrorism. Anyone who watches 'Saat des Terror' and the subsequent documentation understands that this is only part of the truth. "
“It's a wake-up call. It's a disturbing film the first one shows. 'Saat des Terrors' by Daniel Harrich (' The Blind Spot ') with Christiane Paul in the role of a BND agent in Pakistan reveals the problematic cooperation between Western secret services and their partner services in Islamic states. In this way, according to Harrich's thesis, the West finances terrorism in Europe, which it actually wants to fight. "
“Terrifyingly true: the thriller 'Saat des Terrors' shows how secret services unintentionally strengthen extremists - including the German BND. In his new film, the 35-year-old now gives astonishing insights into the work of secret services: a confused structure of conspiracy and corruption. The thesis of his well-researched drama: 'Our security authorities share responsibility for terrorism in Europe. That is not intended, but true, 'Harrich told GOLDEN KAMERA. 'While citizens think of extremism and politics when they hear the term' terror ', fear is lost sight of the business model.' "
“'Saat des Terrors' (ARD / diwafilm) is a gripping agent thriller with a claim. On the basis of his own research on the attacks in Mumbai in 2008, Grimme Prize winner Daniel Harrich tells of the 'business model' of terror and the failure of Western politics. Excellent cast (Christiane Paul, Axel Milberg, Navid Negahban) and skilfully staged by old master Gernot Roll. What this exciting, startling political fiction has to do with the present and with attacks in Europe is only hinted at - because afterwards there is the documentary on the subject. "
Web links
- Official website of the ARD theme evening "Saat des Terror"
- Seeds of terror in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Seeds of Terror in the online film database
- Seeds of terror at crew united
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Reutter , Daniel Harrich: US agent with terror in his luggage. In: tagesschau.de . November 21, 2018, accessed January 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Video: Discussion on Saat des Terror - Reportage & Documentation - ARD | The first. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Thomas Reutter, Daniel Harrich: Bundesnachrichtendienst. The pact with the godfathers of terror. In: tagesschau.de. November 21, 2018, accessed January 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Thriller before show: The first scores with “Saat des Terrors”. In: The Rhine Palatinate . November 22, 2018, accessed January 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Political reactions to the topic evening “Saat des Terror” in the First Daniel Harrich's research will be the topic of the Foreign Affairs Committee on December 12th. In: aktiencheck.de. December 11, 2018, accessed January 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Stefan Liebich: The BND needs red lines. In: stefan-liebich.de. November 21, 2018, accessed January 6, 2019 .
- ^ Matthias Hannemann: Could secret services have prevented the terrorist attacks? In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . November 21, 2018, accessed January 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Hasnain Kazim : Business Model Terror. In: Spiegel Online . November 21, 2018, accessed January 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Rudolf Ogiermann: It's a wake-up call. In: Münchner Merkur . November 21, 2018, accessed January 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Mike Powelz: "Saat des Terrors": Christiane Paul on the trail of a traitor. In: Golden Camera . November 21, 2018, accessed January 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Thomas Gehringer: TV film "Saat des Terrors". In: Tittelbach.tv . Retrieved January 6, 2019 .