NZIFF Film Review: "Merkel" (2022).

"From the Academy-Award-winning producers of Searching for Sugar Man" comes Merkel. This German documentary film written and directed by Eva Weber. Driven by extensive archive material and incisive interviews, the film tells the astonishing story of how a triple political outsider – a woman, a scientist, and an East German– became Germany’s first female chancellor and the de facto leader of the free world.

On July 17, 1954, German former politician and scientist, Angela Dorothea Merkel, was born in Hamburg in then-West Germany. Her family moved to East Germany when she was an infant. Merkel obtained a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986 and worked as a research scientist until 1989. She then entered politics in the wake of the Revolutions of 1989, briefly serving as deputy spokeswoman for the first democratically elected government of East Germany led by Lothar de Maizière. Following German reunification in 1990, Merkel was elected to the Bundestag for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. As the protégée of chancellor Helmut Kohl, Merkel was appointed as Minister for Women and Youth in 1991, later becoming Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in 1994. After the CDU lost the 1998 federal election, Merkel was elected general secretary of the party. She then became the party's first female leader, and the first female Leader of the Opposition two years later. Following the 2005 federal election, Merkel was elected chancellor. Merkel was the first female chancellor of Germany. During her chancellorship, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union (EU) and the most powerful woman in the world. Beginning in 2016, she was often described as the leader of the free world. In foreign policy, Merkel has emphasised international cooperation, both in the context of the EU and NATO, and strengthening transatlantic economic relations. In 2008, Merkel served as president of the European Council and played a central role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration. Merkel played a crucial role in managing the global 2007–2008 financial crisis and the European debt crisis. She negotiated the 2008 European Union stimulus plan, focusing on infrastructure spending and public investment to counteract the Great Recession. In domestic policy, Merkel's Energiewende program focused on future energy development, seeking to phase out nuclear power in Germany, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy sources. Reforms to the Bundeswehr, which abolished conscription, health care reform and her government's response to the 2010s European migrant crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, were major issues during her chancellorship. Merkel stepped down as leader of the CDU and did not seek a fifth term as chancellor in the 2021 federal election.

The film is a reminder of how rare it is to get a clear, sustained look at a woman in politics, and a credit to the film’s unique perspective and fascinating protagonist, that it leaves you wanting more, not less. During a time when politics has become more than just a dirty word, the film has the potential to make you believe in leadership again.

Simon says Merkel receives:

Also, see my NZIFF review for Ennio: The Maestro.