A World Divided: 1939-1962

The six-part documentary drama series tells the real fates and life stories of Wernher von Braun, Hedwig Höß, Nikita Khrushchev, Joan Hinton, Golda Meir and Frantz Fanon. Ludwig Blochberger plays Rudolf Höss.

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The Garden Outside the Wall (EP 2/6)

In 1941, 32-year-old Hedwig Höß and her children were looking forward to a new home in Auschwitz. Her husband Rudolf had just been promoted to commandant of the concentration camp. Proud and full of plans, she set up the service villa with a spacious garden - a seemingly true idyll in the shadow of hell, right next to the watchtowers and the wall of the extermination camp.

Little Boy (EP 4/6)

Hedwig Höß, a staunch National Socialist, flees from Soviet troops to northern Germany with her family. When the British finally capture her there, she has to choose between her children and her husband. Who will she betray and hand over to the hated enemy?

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European Culture Award 2024

On June 7th, I had the honorable task of presenting the European Culture Prize to the Vienna Boys' Choir and the Vienna Choristers as a laudator. The award ceremony took place as part of a festive gala in the Philharmonie Luxembourg. The award is considered one of the most important in Europe: In addition to the Vienna Boys' Choir and the Vienna Choristers, the following people were honored: Her Majesty the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, the conductor Alondra de la Parra, star tenor Rolando Villazon, Fatma Said, Ronan Keating, Frank Elstner and Jean-Claude Juncker, as well as the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Filming: Kabul

Since April 1, 2024, a new international production by the European Alliance has been being produced in Athens and the surrounding area in co-production with New8: The drama series with the working title “Kabul” puts the events surrounding the arrival of the Taliban on August 14, 2021 at the center of the plot: While the Taliban are at the gates of the city, France is preparing to evacuate its embassy. But the sudden fall of Kabul the next day thwarts all plans. French, Italian, German and American diplomats and police have to improvise the evacuation of hundreds of Afghan and international refugees to the airport. Directors Olga Chajdas and Kasia Adamik direct the six episodes of the series based on scripts by authors Olivier De Mangel and Thomas Finkielkraut. The international cast includes Jonathan Zaccaï, Thibault Evrard, Olivier Rabourdin, Eric Dane, Jeanne Goursaud, Ludwig Blochberger, Leonard Scheicher, Gianmarco Saurino, Valentina Cervi, Vassilis Koukalani, Shervin Alenabi and David Rott.

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“Kabul” is a production by Cinétévé, 24 25 Films, Blonde Productions and Mediawan in collaboration with Panache Production (Belgium), La Compagnie Cinématographique (Belgium) in co-production with France Télévisions, ZDF & New8: ZDF, NPO (the Netherlands), VRT (Flanders, Belgium), SVT (Sweden), DR (Denmark), YLE (Finland), RUV (Iceland), NRK (Norway) as well as with Cosmote TV (Greece) and RAI (Italy). The responsible editorial team at ZDF is Frank Seyberth and Wolfgang Stieft. Filming is expected to continue until July 5, 2024; the broadcast dates have not yet been set.

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