Gert Monheim may well be one of the most courageous and committed television journalists in Germany. He's not afraid of tackling delicate subjects. In his 1987 report "Gesucht wird...eine Todesursa- che", Monheim revealed indescribable bumbling by the German Federal Health Authority, which had failed to ban a lethal medicine despite its knowledge of the danger. Monheim is happy to take on large corporations, such as the Hoechst or Bayer chemical giants, when it's a matter of scandals involving toxic products.
Nor does he regard politicians as sacred. Monheim's "Wer Gewalt sat" demonstrates how the incendiary remarks of politicians prepared the way for rightwing-extremist violence in the Eastern German city of Rostock. Monheim asks tough questions. He handles facts and evidence with extreme precision, and pursues his aims with a combination of passionate determination and cool distance from the issues at hand. His reports are similarly clear and precise in their form. The most complicated facts and the driest of evidence are presented in the most accessible way possible. Sometimes his films are more exciting than thrillers. Monheim's works produce effects - sometimes the broadcasting of a program was jeopardized by going to court, sometimes problems were solved and sometimes the solution to a problem was only faked. The real suspense is hence what happens after the broadcasting. He will talk about this.
Gert Monheim will present two more films in the program "Nightflight 7", Feb. 17. "Manteuffelstr. 40. Die Geschichte eines Hauses"; Die Stadt, das Gift und der Bayer-Konzern; Gesucht wird... eine Todesursache