German Filmmakers Tackle Nation's Dark Past

Speaking during celebrations to commemorate German Unity Day last month, Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of historical awareness. Young Germans in particular need to learn more about the country's communist past, Merkel said. Fortunately, German screenwriter and producer Bernd Eichinger is a reliable source of inspiration in this regard. His latest historical drama "The Baader Meinhof Complex" has recently generated a wave of interest in one of the darkest chapters in Germany's past. The movie tells the story of the Red Army Faction (RAF) -- a group of radical anti-imperialists which terrorized an unstable German democracy for nearly three decades. Beginning with the student riots of 1968, the film traces the RAF's gradual evolution from resistance to terror.