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The Disappearance of Josef Mengele emerges as a specter of history, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov from Olivier Guez’s novel, with August Diehl inhabiting the infamous physician’s haunted silhouette. We first glimpse Mengele’s bones under bright dissection lights in a present-day Brazilian classroom, then slip into black-and-white corridors of his fugitive life—Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil—each locale tinted by fear and memory. Diehl, unrecognizable beneath prosthetics, becomes a vessel for a man who once sought genetic “purity” yet now hunts anonymity under ever-shifting aliases.

The film unfolds like a fractured mirror: noir-tinged thriller, character study, moral reckoning. Stark monochrome gives way to one vivid flashback in color—an eruption of Auschwitz horror that jolts both eye and conscience. Serebrennikov’s camera, often trailing Mengele from behind, traces the cruel geometry of his obsession and the chasm between his grand vision and every-day human dread.

Expect an exploration of narrative architecture,...

Throughout the impressively crafted and increasingly exasperating 135 minutes that make up Kirill Serebrennikov’s postwar Nazi-in-hiding chronicle, The Disappearance of Josef Menegele, the same question keeps coming to mind: Why am I watching this?

Certainly, for those curious to know how the notorious Auschwitz doctor, aka the “Angel of Death,” eked out the final decades of his life in various South American countries, changing homes and identities, farming, scheming and, yes, getting the occasional handjob, the film answers that question many times over. But for those who aren’t Third Reich completists, nor have any interest in historical fantasy that does little beyond embellishing Mengele’s ignoble reputation, this intellectually vacuous exercise can be tough to stomach — despite how well put together the whole thing is.

The Russian-born Serebrennikov is a talented auteur with plenty of style to boot, showcasing his directorial chops in six eclectic features made since 2016. He jumps easily between genres,...

Call My Agent Berlin [working title] is heading to Disney+.

The latest adaptation of the French hit comedy comes from Germany, telling the story of the Stern actors agency and its agents. German stars including Lucas Gregorowicz, Karin Hanczewski, Michael Klammer, Gabrielle Scharnitzky, Dana Herfurth, Benny O. Arthur, Janina Elkin and Taynara Silva-Wolf play the agents from the Stern talent agency in Call My Agent Berlin [working title], which Disney+ said has just finished filming. More special guests will likely be unveiled.

The series is being showran by Johann Buchholz, who runs producer Friday Film. Boris Kunz and Laura Lackman are directing. “Many of the country’s most skillful manipulators work in the film business. We are erecting a monument to them,” joked Buchholz.

Benjamina Mirnik-Voges, Director Original Productions, The Walt Disney Company in Gsa, said: “We are delighted and proud to be working with Friday Film to adapt this special dramedy for the...

A few more returns and more than two dozen (!) new bits of casting have been announced for the second/final season of Wolf Hall.

Masterpiece PBS and the BBC previously announced that the six-episode Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s award-winning trilogy, will bring back Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Jonathan Pryce, Kate Phillips and Lilit Lesser.

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This Monday morning,...

Kinology has come on board the highly anticipated next film of Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov, “The Disappearance of Josef Mengele,” based on Olivier Guez’s bestselling novel. Kinology is at Cannes to present the project to buyers.

Set to start shooting in a few weeks, the film is being produced by Charles Gillibert at CG Cinema (“Annette”) and Ilya Stewart at Hype Studios (“Tchaikovsky’s Wife”), Felix von Boem at Lupa Films, Arte France Cinéma, Mélanie Biessy with Scala Films, Forma Pro Films and Cimarron coproduce the film with Piano. Bac Films does French distribution and Dcm german distribution.

It stars August Diehl as Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor who found refuge in South America at the end of WWII and was never captured. Mengele died in Brazil in 1979 without having been judged for his crimes. The movie will focus on Mengele’s fugitive years in South America, and will be...