September 5 ★★★½

DESPITE being Oscar and Golden Globe nominated (for Best Original Screenplay and Best Drama Film respectively) September 5 passed through Australian cinemas with little fanfare.

It’s a very well-made, written and acted thriller, fascinating for journalists but perhaps a little too talky for many viewers.

Directed by Swiss Tim Fehlbaum, it chronicles a significant world event from a new and different perspective.

The kidnapping and murders of Israeli weightlifting team members during the 1972 Munch Olympics has previously been told on-screen, most notably in the Oscar-winning 1999 documentary One Day in September and Steven Spielberg’s Munich in 2005.

The actual live news footage of the Black September terrorists and their captives has been widely shown and continues to be an important part of television news history.

Fehlbaum’s film focuses on the story of that extraordinary footage; not just how it was achieved by an American ABC sports crew covering the Games, but also the arguments they had with management to to make sure it was aired live as much as possible and keep the story in their hands, rather than handing over to a more experienced new team.

It also examines key ethical issues surrounding the coverage, in particular the choices made to sensationalise aspects of the sports competition and later, once the terrorist attack has commenced, to continue live coverage at any costs.

Granted, this may still feel a little dry, but Fehlbaum also presents the emotional impact via the crew members involved in covering the terrible incident, in particular their reactions to the terrible irony of Jewish people being murdered on German soil.

Three key characters are at the centre of the drama and all are played extremely well.

The ever-reliable Peter Sarsgaard is Roone Arledge, the president of ABC Sports, who is determined to retain control of the story; John Magaro is Geoffrey Mason, the head of the control room in Munich, who overcomes his lack of experience with calm and measures judgements; and Ben Chaplin is Marvin Bader, the head of operation at ABC Sports, who is in many ways the moral centre of the story.

Fehlbaum tells the story with a meticulous attention to detail and excellent use of the real archival footage.

Watched at the cinema.