Hajo Funke

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On June 1st, 2019, around 11:30pm, the shoot which represents a turning point in the federal republic falls. In the hessian small town Wolfhagen-Istha, the district president of Kassel, Walter Lübcke, is murdered during this night, while, just a few meters away, the annual carnival is putting the locals into a festive mood. It is DNA-evidence on the clothes of Walter Lübcke which leads the investigators on June 15th, 2019, to his presumptive murderer: Stephan Ernst. The previously convicted right-wing extremist Ernst gets arrested by a SEK unit in Kassel. A first background check reveals: Stephan Ernst was known to the security authorities, but they did not have him on their radar for six years. Now he is back. And a person is dead. The docu-drama “Schuss in der Nacht” („Shoot in the dark“) tells emotionally, and simultaneously factually, how the deadly attack on Lübcke came to be. It tells about the first far-right motivated murder of a politician since the era of national socialism.

Extreme right-wing terrorism is becoming an ever-bigger threat in Western societies. Since 2015, sixteen terror attacks have taken place in Europe. Far-right violent extremist groups are now the second most important threat after Islamic terrorism in Europe and white supremacism has become the greatest terrorism threat in the US. This risk has become even more present with the current crises that our societies are facing, such as the isolation related to COVID-19 or the war in Ukraine. This close-up investigation documentary delves into the cases of previous terrorist attacks worldwide and gives voice to present and former far-right activists, victims, militants fighting ultra-right and antiterrorism officers. This film raises awareness on a growing threat which represents a critical challenge to our democracies and tries to understand the link between these acts of terrorism and the growing political polarization and the mainstreaming of extremist beliefs in contemporary societies.