With One's Own Eyes

Monitor is one of the most renowned political magazines on German television and has been known for its investigative, opinionated and often polarizing journalism since it was founded in 1965. Today, the program is broadcast every three weeks on ARD and reaches an average of between two and three million viewers. The documentary "With One's Own Eyes" observes the editorial team around presenter and editorial director Georg Restle in their daily work and focuses on the creation of a Monitor program. When the first reports are already in production, it becomes public that the right-wing extremist Stephan E. is urgently suspected of having shot the CDU politician Walter Lübcke. The team of journalists reacts to the new situation and reschedules the planned broadcast at short notice. Under time pressure, an extensive investigation into right-wing terrorism begins, during which the editorial team obtains exclusive information about the suspect. But when their reporting is called into question, the production comes to a standstill. The film provides a differentiated and unique insight into the reality and the effort involved in journalistic work. "With One's Own Eyes" gives the audience the opportunity to experience the editorial team's efforts to get the facts in an age of great confusion. And it remains a feat of strength to escape the dynamics of media hyper-acceleration.