September 5 (15)
Directed by Tim Fehlbaum
★★★★ 

TOLD from the journalist’s point of view this edge of your seat drama reveals the moment on September 5 1972 in Munich which changed media coverage forever, giving birth to continuous live news reporting. 
 
Co-written and directed by Tim Fehlbaum, it is based on the real-life story of the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the Israeli Olympic team at the 1972 Summer Olympics. It is shown purely from the perspective of the sports reporters in the ABC studio who were covering the games live. 
 
When the attack begins they become responsible for 22 hours of live coverage switching from sporting events to geopolitics while fighting off the newsroom back in the US who want to take over this breaking news story. This was the first time an event of such magnitude was covered by a live broadcast. Seamlessly, it weaves archive footage with the dramatisation. 
 
Most of the action unfolds in the control room as the film explores the moral, ethical, professional and psychological dilemmas these journalists faced. Considering the equipment, which now seems so antiquated, they did a remarkable job. They had to be resourceful in gaining entry to the Olympic village where it was all happening, and in getting the film footage in and out.
 
Having worked in a television news control room or gallery it gave me chills — and frankly PTSD — knowing the pressures they faced. The film totally nails that thanks to an outstanding cast led by Peter Sarsgaard as the legendary TV executive Roone Arledge, John Magaro as Geoffrey Mason the young ambitious producer put in charge and Ben Chaplin as his mentor. 
 
It is nail-biting and harrowing. While it does not examine the political implications of the hostages’ deaths, best see Steven Spielberg’s Munich for that, you may question the timing of this film’s release and feel it may be garnering Israeli sympathy in the
midst of the current Israeli-Palestinian hostage exchange.

In cinemas now 

The Fire Inside (12A)
Directed by Rachel Morrison 
★★★