CURVEBALL tells the grotesque, at times even surreal, true story of how the Iraq war was started based on nothing but fake intelligence and the involvement of the German government / German secret service.

Bioweapons expert Wolf of the German Federal Intelligence Service BND is obsessed with the idea that, despite the UN inspections, anthrax is still being produced in Iraq. Back home in Germany, his superior Schatz assigns him as case officer for the Iraqi asylum seeker Rafid Alwan – because Alwan claims to have worked as an engineer for Saddam Hussein’s secret bioweapons program. It’s a rare triumph for asecret service not exactly spoilt by success: finally, they have a piece of intelligence that wouldput them one step ahead of the CIA. What they are missing, though, is proof. The search for which proves difficult, as ‚ÄòCurveball’ is well aware of his value to the agency. His claims, meanwhile, end up serving a number of decidedly different interests – the CIA, the German government, everyone is trying to use his incredible story for their own purposes. Thus, bit by bit, a construed story becomes reality and a lie becomes the truth. A truth, which sets in motion a chain of events that forever changes the global political landscape.

  • Director

    Johannes Naber

  • Version

    German / English (OV)
    with English subtitles

  • Produced by

    Amir Hamz, Christian Springer, Fahri Yardim
    (Bon Voyage Films GmbH)

  • Cast

    Sebastian Blomberg, Dar Salim, Virginia Kull, Thorsten Merten, Michael Wittenborn

  • Genre

    Political Comedy

  • Running Time

    108 min.

  • Release

    Filmwelt Verleihagentur, Germany
    September 9, 2021

  • Festivals

    Berlinale Special Gala | Edinburgh IFF 2020 | Hamburg FF 2020 | La Roche-sur-Yon IFF 2020 | European FF South Africa 2020 | Arras FF 2020 | Leeds IFF 2020 | Tallinn Black Nights FF 2020 | German FF Moscow 2020 | Argentina FICiP |

  • Year

    2020

  • Status

    completed

credits not contractual