Hunt for Nazis: “The German”: Masucci shooted in Israel during the war

The German actor Oliver Masucci was in Israel for six months to film the series “The German” for half a year. “I wanted my children to be here too because it was a long period of time,” said the 56-year-old at an event in the Sam Spiegel School for Film and Television in Jerusalem.

“The German” premiered in March at Europe’s largest series festival “Series Mania” in northern France and was awarded the prize for the best script. In Germany, the American-Israeli history series is said to be shown at Magenta TV shortly.

Auschwitz survivor participates in hunt for Nazi criminals

In the eight divider, Masucci plays a German Jew who survived Auschwitz and lives with his family in a Kibbutz am See Genezareth. He is then forced to participate in the hunt for Nazi criminals in Germany by the Israeli secret service Mossad. Dark secrets from his own past come to light. The script wrote Ronit Weiss-Berkowitz (“The Girl from Oslo”) and Moshe Zonder, who also developed the “Fauda” and “Tehran” series. Directed by Gabriel Bibliowicz.

His three children would initially be afraid to come to Israel during the war, especially his little daughter, said Masucci, who was primarily known internationally through the Netflix series “Dark”. However, it was important to him to have this experience with his children. They had also attended destroyed Israeli villages on the border with the Gaza Strip and spoke to survivors of the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023.

Learned Hebrew in the quick procedure

For the series in German, English and Hebrew, which plays in 1970, he also learned Hebrew practically in the quick process. The idea of ​​the series touched him very much from the start, said Masucci. “You asked me, we can do that in Hebrew – and I said, definitely not.” He had explained to the initiators for half an hour why it was impossible to speak Hebrew in production. “You nodded, but then asked: Can we do it anyway?” He then laughed and agreed.

When it comes to filmmaking abroad, it is always particularly important to him to immerse yourself on site and get to know real life. “I don’t know what would happen if I made a film in Gaza,” he said. One thing is certain: “This war has to stop.”

His tip to young colleagues and filmmakers: “If you want to achieve something, then never listen to the fear that others project on you. Listen to the voice in you who has hope.”