SEPTEMBER 5 PRODUCTION
INSTANT COVERAGE Building a realistic newsroom set added to the film’s immersive feel
seventies they were never perfect. They were hand-assembled with misaligned elements,” he explains. “I took it apart and put it back together, but imperfectly – on purpose.” The result was one-of-a-kind. “It’s a unicorn lens – very dirty, with dust and fingerprints in between elements. It created a unique effect with a 3D bloom.” THE IMMERSION FACTOR Another key component of the film’s visual grammar was the feel of almost documentary-like immediacy. It was shot almost entirely handheld with long takes and whip pans, designed to keep pace with the chaos inside the newsroom. “Every scene was shot as a oner – a continuous take,” Förderer elaborates. “We knew we would tighten it up with editing, but by shooting this way we kept that high-stakes, live-broadcast energy.” For added realism, the team also opted against blue or green screens for the TV monitors in the control room. Instead, all of the footage was played back on them in real time. “That was essential,” he insists. “If our actors had been reacting to blank screens, we would have lost so much authenticity. The
especially in depicting what happened inside the ABC compound.” TRUSTING YOUR GUT For Förderer, the project itself and the reaction to it – which included an Oscar nomination – have been a dream come true. “You always hope, but you just never know. It was such a small film but such a huge story. We worried about whether we were doing it justice by telling it in such a contained way, but ultimately that made it special and unique.” Looking back, his biggest takeaway has been the importance of embracing intuition. “You can plan, storyboard and previs, but once you’re in the room with the actors you have to be ready to throw it all away and follow your gut instinct wherever the story takes you. If you see something magical, go for it,” he urges. “You can do a perfect crane shot, stabilise it in post and make everything flawless, but it might have no soul. I think people are craving reality, especially in a time when we’re bombarded with AI- generated images. I’m drawn to things that feel human – that were captured in the moment, with real actors. If you can shoot handheld, shoot handheld. Keep it bold. Keep it simple.”
monitors had real flicker, real artefacts – it was all live in the room.” BALANCING REALISM WITH RESPECT For the whole team, authenticity was paramount, but so was handling the subject matter respectfully. They took great care not to exploit any real footage of victims; instead, most of what appears to be archival material was actually painstakingly recreated. Despite their sensitive approach, and praise for capturing the experience from those who lived through it – including Geoffrey Mason, a control-room functionary for ABC who is depicted in the film – Förderer still grappled with the project’s ethical weight. “We were right there in the Olympic Village where those hostages were killed, and it was chilling. We were making a film, but because it was rooted in historical fact it had to be as accurate as possible. At the same time, we were telling a narrative story, using creative techniques to build tension. There’s no such thing as a neutral perspective. If we show a masked man on a balcony and zoom in, we’re framing it like a horror film to make the audience feel something. But I felt a deep responsibility to be accurate,
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