The Oscar-nominated documentary September 5 follows an American sports broadcasting team’s experience during the horrifying events of the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. It revisits the real-life tragedy in which members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and murdered during the Games.
September 5 streams on Showmax from today (11 September 2025), and will be available on M-Net Movies 1 (DStv Channel 104) from tomorrow (12 September) at 8pm.
The movie was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars and the Critics Choice Awards, as well as Best Motion Picture in the Drama category at the Golden Globes.
September 5 depicts a routine day of sports reporting that turns into a live news event when a terrorist group takes several athletes hostage. The story follows producer Geoff (John Magaro) and TV executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) as they navigate critical decisions under intense time pressure.
Director Tim Fehlbaum says the film is not a historical account of the attack itself, but rather an exploration of the unprecedented situation the media faced that day. He says was fascinated by how a team of sports reporters, trained to tell the stories of athletes, suddenly became responsible for 22 hours of live coverage on a geopolitical tragedy.
The filmmakers chose to tell the story entirely from the perspective of the television coverage, keeping the audience within the tense studio environment as the cameras served as the sole window into the unfolding tragedy.
The narrative draws on extensive research, incorporating firsthand accounts from journalists who were present in Munich during the 1972 Olympics. Influenced by Kevin Macdonald’s One Day in September and Paul Greengrass’s United 93, the filmmakers aimed to capture documentary-like precision and real-time urgency.
They interviewed Geoffrey Mason, ABC’s co-ordinating producer at the time, whose detailed recollections helped shape the central storyline. The production secured access to ABC’s original broadcast tapes, enabling a blend of dramatised scenes with archival footage to heighten authenticity.
This approach enabled the characters to respond to the same events that held global audiences’ attention. The project drew the interest of Sean Penn’s production company, Projected Picture Works, leading to its development into a feature film.
Penn says: “I remember gathering with my family around the television while all of this was playing out. The script provoked memories of that tension and heartbreak. It literally put us in the room with those on-site covering it.”
The partnership with Projected Picture Works elevated the film to an international production, attracting a cast that includes John Magaro (Past Lives), Peter Sarsgaard (Dopesick), Leonie Benesch, and Ben Chaplin.
September 5 presents the events of the Munich Olympics as a historical account and as a human story that highlights how the day reshaped media coverage.
The film explores the responsibilities of crisis reporting and the ethical questions surrounding real-time news coverage, issues that remain relevant in today’s 24/7 news cycle.