Actor Will Smith's company will co-produce a new documentary series on the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Global Screen, a German entertainment company co-owned by Smith, will join Israeli company Tadmor Entertainment in producing "Munich '72," Variety reported.
"Munich '72" will be the first Israeli series to chronicle the events of Sept. 5-6, 1972, when 11 Israeli athletes and coaches died after being taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists in the Olympic village of Munich. A botched airport rescue operation ended with all the hostages being killed.
The documentary series will combine archival footage, interviews with key figures, and dramatized scenes with actors.
"The events of the Munich massacre, in which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict erupted onto a global stage, also tell the story of the Jewish and German nations, two nations struggling to leave the events of the Second World War behind them only to be met with another tragedy," Global Screen said in a statement.
Variety reported that newly declassified protocols will assist the series in revealing conversations from the Israeli cabinet during the crisis. Also, there are previously unseen documents about discussions that took place in the German crisis room where the event was managed.
"For the first time, this terrible chain of events and failures in Germany at the time, will be told from an Israeli perspective, including newly revealed material reflecting the historical background and different correlations of the political groups involved," said Julia Weber, head of international sales and acquisitions at Global Screen, Variety reported.
Filming currently is ongoing in Germany and Israel, and is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
"Munich '72" is scheduled to be released in September, first in Israel and then internationally.
The series is being directed by Roman Shumunov, the award-winning Israeli director of "Back to Chernobyl" and "Babylon Dreamers."
Shumunov said the series "will shed new light on the tragic events of the Munich Olympics, which continue to cast a shadow upon us to this day," Variety reported.
Israeli actress Anat Waxman will play the role of then prime minister Golda Meir and Israeli Nati Ravitz will play that of then defense minister Moshe Dayan.
Israeli judoka world champion Sagi Muki will play the role of weightlifter Yossef Romano, tortured and murdered by terrorists.
"Munich ’72" will also be available as a feature-length theatrical film.
The terrorists took members of Israel's Olympic delegation hostage in an attempt to gain the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
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