When politics is made - many suspect it, some know it - it is not always idyllic.
In every corner there are interests that are just waiting to emerge from the dark.
Campaigns are organized - for example against the most popular SPD politician and Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
But this “House of Cards” -like view of politics only offers a small excerpt of reality.
Mona Jaeger
Deputy Editor in Charge of News.
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Politics, especially German, is that too: The Juso chairman Kevin Kühnert, who has achieved some fame, slips across a meadow with much older comrades somewhere in the province and lets himself be enjoyed with a mixture of ironic distance and joy in the enthusiasm of the Show attendees trees and garden fences.
The comrades can tell each other about Kühnert's visit for a long time, it is long gone.
In the next appointment, in the next tweet, in the next strategy meeting.
Who would have thought that Scholz would win?
Chance also plays a presumably underestimated role in politics. Because when Kühnert agreed in 2018 to be accompanied by a film team for three years, no one could have suspected that the grand coalition would hold out its regular playing time - and Scholz and the SPD ultimately win the election. The six-part NDR documentary "Kevin Kühnert and the SPD" begins on the day of the Hessian state election. The SPD receives its worst result since 1946. It is a day of upheaval. Because not only will Chancellor Angela Merkel soon announce that she no longer wants to run. Anger against the party and parliamentary group leader Andrea Nahles is also gathering in the SPD.
A head protrudes from this tumult of ambiguity: Kevin Kühnert's.
It will often be like that.
The documentation shows a politician who thinks and acts so professionally and strategically that you have to pay your respects first - regardless of whether you like what he is doing.
Kühnert wonders about journalists: Why don't they ask the questions that hurt?
Boldly puts on a red and blue sock with which he gives the most effective rhetorical push at the SPD party congress of the Union.
And Kühnert coaches Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans, whom he wants to see at the top of the party.
Esken and Walter-Borjans are given something
It is one of the most impressive scenes in the three-hour film by Katharina Schiele and Lucas Stratmann. Kühnert, Esken and Walter-Borjans are sitting in an unadorned, beige-gray conference room, the most common setting in German politics. The two boldly prepare for their appearance against Olaf Scholz, they want to become party leaders. Kühnert: “You feel like it.” Esken takes notes with a serious expression. “You have lust, lust, lust.” Walter-Borjans looks skeptical. Kühnert knows how it's going. Another reason why his star shines so brightly is that most of it is pretty dark around it. The scene documents a humiliation, there is no other way to put it.
The film team followed Kühnert for 80 days over a period of three years. You get an idea of what politics is and how it is done. Kühnert was brave to embark on this experiment. It was probably easier for him because he set the boundaries. Nothing can be seen from his private life, there is no insight into confidential meetings with third parties who are not privy to the film project. Nobody looks in Kühnert's head, you can't blame the filmmakers for that. Even if it would be amusing.
After the documentation was published, Kühnert said that he did not want to produce “a little advertising film”, but rather a realistic insight into politics. That succeeded. He also wanted to do something about the "complete exaggeration" of his person. Oh well. We get to see a smart young man who does politics as a profession, with the necessary seriousness and professionalism. He is professionally friendly, authoritative and reliable. When Scholz is proclaimed candidate for chancellor, he is offended for ten seconds because he was not informed beforehand. He agrees on the board - Kühnert is now deputy party chairman - but the election. And then immediately sit down with his team and advise: If the journalists ask how he can approve of the election for Scholz,when he wanted to prevent him as party leader, what does he say then? It is professional to do this, but also tactical, driven by power and career issues. It's not all idyllic. But very exciting.
The documentation ends on the evening of the federal election.
The SPD won, Kühnert is now directly elected member of the Bundestag.
Will he have to stand in line, will he mobilize the many Jusos in the parliamentary group for his politics?
Maybe there will be a second season.
Kevin Kühnert and the SPD
, ARD media library