A new six-part German miniseries examines the institutional failures preceding the 2016 terrorist attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz Christmas market. “Blindspot Berlin” had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and is set largely during the year before the attack.
The series follows police investigator Frank Laudin and Isra Al-Husseini, a young officer and Arabic-language translator, as they investigate the Salafist network around Abu Walaa, an Iraqi preacher whom the source describes as a recruiter for Islamic State. They recruit Murat, an undercover informant, and encounter Anis Amri, whose behavior becomes increasingly dangerous.
Amri, a Tunisian whose asylum applications had been rejected and who was known to German security services, drove a hijacked truck into the crowded market on Dec. 19, 2016. Before taking the vehicle, he shot its Polish driver, Lukasz Urban. Twelve people were killed in the attack, while a 13th victim died from injuries in 2021; dozens more were injured. Amri fled across Europe and was shot dead by Italian police near Milan four days later during an identity check.
The drama presents warnings about Amri being dismissed by superiors. The source says officials partly viewed him as a drug dealer and considered that inconsistent with the profile of a radical Islamist. A parliamentary inquiry later found that the criminal division handling Amri and other suspects was grossly understaffed, agencies failed to share information effectively, and officials made serious errors of judgment. Although Amri’s asylum claims were rejected, he was not deported.
Director David Nawrath said the story depicts “overwhelmed institutions” and a failure to recognize a developing threat. Producer Simon Amberger told DW that the team stayed as close as possible to known facts, while leaving uncertain matters open. The central investigators and informant are fictionalized, but the production team based the wider events on the Amri case and the years-long parliamentary investigation.
The producers also frame the attack within a wider period of violence in Europe and say its questions remain relevant to the balance between security and civil liberties. Amberger cautioned that the series could be used to support a simplistic anti-immigration message, arguing that the production instead portrays extremism as emerging among marginalized people who feel isolated and powerless. “Blindspot Berlin” is scheduled to premiere on German broadcaster ARD in October, with international distribution planned.