‘September 5’: How ABC Archive Footage with Jim McKay Helped Authenticate the Munich Massacre Crisis

In a technical sense, the archive footage of ABC Sports commentator Jim McKay is the real star of “September 5,” director Tim Fehlbaum’s gripping docudrama about the Munich Summer Olympics hostage crisis of 1972. In fact, treating McKay as one of the characters allowed for a more authentic recreation of the events. This was accomplished by blending the broadcast footage, which played in real-time on the monitors, with directed scenes in the control room set (shot at Bavaria Studios in Munich).

The Munich massacre was historic for two reasons: It was the first live Summer Olympics broadcast (thanks to satellite tech), and it was the first live terrorist attack. For 22 hours, the ABC Sports production team pivoted to news in broadcasting the killing of the Israeli Olympic team, which was taken hostage in Munich by Black September (part of the Palestine Liberation Organization).

“It was a very intuitive process,” editor Hansjörg Weißbrich told IndieWire. “We had a lot of footage and my approach in the beginning was a very playful one. They shot long takes with two cameras [both digital and 16mm], all handheld style. And we had like four to five hours per day with 33 shooting days. I started putting together an assembly quite quickly to get a sense of how a scene would work and to get a sense of the tonality.”

“September 5” works as a suspenseful journalistic procedural in the tradition of “All The President’s Men,” with the drama ping-ponging back and forth between four principal characters: Peter Sarsgaard as ambitious producer Roone Arledge, John Magaro as newbie coordinating producer Geoffrey Mason, Ben Chaplin as Marvin Bader, VP of Olympic Operations, and Leonie Benesch as Marianne Gebhardt, the German assistant caught in the crossfire.

‘September 5’©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

Weißbrich was involved two years before the start of principal photography, and read various versions of the script, providing notes to help shape the fast-paced, documentary-style thriller. The archive footage was specified in the script, setting the tone for onscreen playback in the control room. Thus, the narrative consisted of the ABC team interacting behind the scenes in front of McKay’s live broadcast. This took us beyond the studio while allowing for tension to build between Magaro as the protagonist, Arledge as the antagonist, and Bader as the liaison.

“It was challenging to get the balance right between the ticking clock, the fact-based events outside, the stress level inside, and then the moral questions they had to face,” Weißbrich said. “We had a lot of choices because no take was like the other. And it was about finding the right camera movement or the best performance, or taking the dialogue, or a bit from the dialogue, and putting it [elsewhere]. It was like a big puzzle.”

Yet it was sometimes hard to cut around McKay when he wasn’t onscreen to create the impression that he was in the studio adjacent to the control. This necessitated shooting a body double from behind. “For example, when he’s coming into the studio and we had to carefully combine those elements to create the feeling that it was all natural and that we couldn’t show his face in the footage,” Weißbrich added.

Montages were also important in conveying more of an abstract rhythm, such as showing the technical film development process in the beginning or trying to smuggle film into the Olympic Village. “This is something completely different from having a dialogue scene with actors or working on the psychology of the characters,” continued Weißbrich. “It’s more playful and cinematic.”

‘September 5’©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

However, Weißbrich marveled at the minor character moments as well, such as the sexist treatment of Gebhardt, who, early on, is asked to get coffee for the executives. As the story progresses, she becomes an important member of the team, translating the German TV news and gathering intel.

“In that setup, Marianne is the only character that represents the new Germany,” Weißbrich said. “And Leonie is so good at conveying that with her subtle performance. I like the sense of gravity of that situation and that moment in history. For me, that is the core of the film, of wanting to put a new face on Germany.”

“September 5” is now in select theaters and expands nationwide January 17.