An official trailer dropped this week for the upcoming Angel Studios movie, “Bonhoeffer.” The historical drama, which releases in November, tells the true story of German Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred near the end of World War II.
“Bonhoeffer” was written and directed by Todd Komarnicki. German actor Jonas Dassler stars in the title role.
Within a day of the trailer’s June 20 release, it had more than 50,000 views on YouTube. The trailer features “The Sound of Silence,” a moving cover song by the band Disturbed.
Author Eric Metaxas, whose books include a biography of Bonhoeffer, shared a link to the trailer on social media. “Amazing!” wrote Metaxas.
‘Bonhoeffer’ in Theaters This Thanksgiving
The two-minute trailer for “Bonhoeffer” proclaims that “an impossible time takes impossible courage.” It shows snippets of the pastor’s life, including his eventual involvement with anti-Nazi efforts.
Originally titled “God’s Spy,” the film tells a “profound and pretty untold story of heroism,” according to Komarnicki. “This is a movie about a man for all time.” The filmmaker said, “Dietrich was that rarest of humans: a visionary who lived his life with authenticity and purpose every single day. He was a fearless martyr who brought wartime atrocities to the world’s attention and wouldn’t be silenced even when no one believed him.”
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Komarnicki added, “We currently live in a time where people have become utterly divided, afraid to speak out for fear of being judged or getting it wrong. When you have judgment without forgiveness, it paralyzes society and breeds a spirit of fear.”
“Dietrich’s story inspires us to see that love wins,” he said, “even when it appears we’ve lost. Love is his superpower, and he uses it to change the world, which he’s still doing 80 years after his death.”
Jordan Harmon, president of Angel Studios, said, “There has never been a time in history where we needed to be reminded of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer more than today.” The Angel Guild, which selects the studio’s projects, “has shown, time and again, that true stories of heroism resonate, and remind us of the power of the human spirit,” Harmon noted.
The Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) received a Doctor of Theology degree in Berlin in 1927. A few years later, he briefly lived in America, where he embraced concepts of social justice and pacifism. Among Bonhoeffer’s many writings are the Christian classics “The Cost of Discipleship” and “Life Together.”
