The documentary “Im inneren Kreis” (English: “In the inner circle“) by Hannes Obens and Claudia Morar, which will be distributed from now on UCM.ONE (NONFY Documentaries), describes the already almost unbelievable twists of the undercover employments of Iris P. in Hamburg and Simon B. in Heidelberg. Both assignments combine fundamental ethical and political topics and questions in themselves. Many exciting psychological and social facets are addressed and challenge viewers to a change of perspective: here state, since left activists from Hamburg and Heidelberg. Here the freedom of the personality, the right to choose other life forms and there the postulated security interests of the state.
Iris P. had close friendships and intimate relationships with people she spied on. As undercover investigator “Iris Schneider”, she spent years researching the left-wing scene and the “Rote Flora” in Hamburg. After their media-effective exposure in 2014, two more undercover investigators flew to Hamburg within 18 months: Maria B. (cover name “Maria Block”) and Astrid O. (aka Astrid Schütt). They also worked with similar methods as Iris P. and were undercover in the left scene for many years. In idyllic Heidelberg, in turn, police officer Simon B. enrolled at the university in 2010 to spy on left-wing students who had not dreamed of getting caught in the crosshairs of state surveillance.
Impressively, the protagonists tell their stories from very different perspectives. Supervised people from the environment of the “Red Flora” in Hamburg and young students from Heidelberg, as well as politically and legally responsible persons have their say, as the former Attorney General Kay Nehm.
What does the seemingly abstract surveillance really mean? In “Im inneren Kreis“, these current social questions are approaching in a very personal and concrete way: What consequences does surveillance have for the individual and for the whole of society? How free can supervised people be?
The documentary “In the inner circle” from now on at UCM.ONE in theatrical distribution
