Christian Weisenborn

The last years of Heinrich George's life are reconstructed with documentary footage and play scenes. His son Götz, named after Heinrich's favorite role of the peasant war hero from Goethe's play "Götz von Berlichingen", plays scenes from his father's life and allows his enormous creative power to shine through. Nothing is left out, nothing glossed over in this story of a man with many facets. Götz George, one of Germany's best-known actors, is at the center of this homage, which is also a reappraisal of the contradictions in his father's life. As the only follower from the acting profession, Heinrich George had to pay with his life. He was not officially rehabilitated until 1998.

On 20 July 1944, an assassination attempt was made on the life of Adolf Hitler; its failure and that of the coup d'état planned to follow, Operation Valkyrie, lead to the arrest and execution of thousands of people. In his film, "The Traitors' Children", Christian Weisenborn presents harrowing encounters with the children of the executed conspirators, while also taking a look at his own family history. His parents belonged to a group of anti-fascists, which the Gestapo called the "Rote Kapelle" (the red chapel). Weisenborn's parents survived, but 52 of their friends were hanged in Plötzensee in 1942/43. Weisenborn also interviewed their sons and daughters.