Bonhoeffer, the film
Bonhoeffer is a 93-minute documentary film that tells the dramatic story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the young German theologian who offered one of the first clear voices of resistance to Adolf Hitler. Bonhoeffer openly challenged his church to stand with the Jews in their time of need, and eventually joined his family in the plots to kill Hitler. His books, Cost of Discipleship, Letters and Papers from Prison, and Ethics, were written during the struggle and are considered classics in the world of religion and ethics.
The film, shot on location in Germany and the United States, features interviews with family members, friends, students and associates who knew Bonhoeffer personally, including the last interview given by Bonhoeffer's closest friend and biographer, Eberhard Bethge, and an interview with Ruth Alice von Bismarck, the sister of Bonhoeffer's fiancée, Maria von Wedemeyer.
Reich Bishop Mueller at Nazi rally.It also features interviews with outstanding historians and theologians including John de Gruchy and Geffrey Kelly, as well as comments from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Extensive research in archives both in Europe and the US yielded extraordinary archival footage, including a speech by Hitler praying for God's blessing on him and the German people and Bonhoeffer family footage that features the only known moving footage of Dietrich. The production team was also given access to never-before-seen personal and family photographs that help bring visual context to Bonhoeffer's life.
Reading for the voice of Bonhoeffer is actor Klaus Maria Brandauer (Out of Africa, Russia House, etc). The film also features an original score by Emmy-award-winner John Keltonic.
"Bonhoeffer is one of the great examples of moral courage in the face of conflict," explains director/writer Martin Doblmeier. "I believe part of the reason the film is getting attention now is because many of the issues Bonhoeffer faced - the role of the church in the modern world, national loyalty and personal conscience, what the call to being a "peacemaker" really means - are issues we continue to struggle with today."
The associate producers for Bonhoeffer are Adele Schmidt, Janna Morishima and Kristin Fellows. The editors are Matthew B. Kelly and Timothy Finkbiner.
The Bonhoeffer film is scheduled to air on NET Television in February. The main time slots are actually scheduled to air on NET2, our cable channel as follows: Saturday, 2/11/06 at 5:00 p.m. CT and Sunday, 2/12/06 at 6:00 p.m. CT. Bonhoeffer will air on NET1 at 1:00 a.m. CT on Monday, 2/13/06 and you need cable to receive this also.
Readings are taken from the following books by Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
Life Together, Harper, New York: 1954
Letters and Papers from Prison (originally, 1953), The Enlarged edition, Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, 1977, edited by Eberhard Bethe
The Cost of Discipleship (1937-first English translation, 1949), Revised & Unabridged, Macmillan, 1963.