POLITICS ARE PERSONAL
a feature documentary by Indira Geisel
feature documentary | 104 minutes | 2026 | Germany | in distribution
Directed by Indira Geisel and produced by Sommer Slatter Film
in co-production with ZDF das Kleine Fernsehspiel and the University of Television and Film Munich with the support of the Bavarian Banking Fund
"A truly authentic, gripping piece of political television." Stern, Hans Czerny
"Immediate, unfiltered and vivid." Berlin State Agency for Civic Education
"We're doing quite well, precisely because we argue with one another." Indira Geisel in the FAZ, Markus Wehner
"A film that, unlike many other political portraits, opens up spaces for thought." epd Medien, Heike Hupertz
As right-wing support grows in Europe, the German center-left politician Thomas Geisel fights to keep himself and his leftist-liberal party from sliding into irrelevance. Searching for politics that make sense to him, the former mayor of Düsseldorf joins a new left-wing populist party that wants to win back the working class. To his 93-year-old father, a lifelong social democrat, this is a betrayal. In this first-person documentary his daughter follows the campaign and family. Just a cockfight of established men? Or a search for where one belongs when the world changes?
Stream on ZDF-Mediathek (Germany)
Team
Director: Indira Geisel
Producers: Thomas Slatter & Felix Sommer
Cinematographer: Samuel Zerbato & Indira Geisel
Editor: Sebastian Winkels & Simon Brückner (Eine deutsche Partei, Berlinale 2022)
Composer: Arezou Rezaei
Dramaturgical Advisor: Simon Brückner
Commissioning editor: Jakob Zimmermann
Sound-Designer: Xavier Fleming
Sound-Mix: Andreas Goldbrunner
Colorgrading: Nicholas Coleman
Festivals
DOK.fest Munich Competition DOK.deutsch 2026
World premiere
Labs
DOK.talent Award 2024 (DOK.forum Munich)
Winner
Production & Sales
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