Munich, September 5, 1972, tenth day of competition at the Summer Olympics. Back in Germany for the first time since 1936, it was to be the 'cheerful games' and convey to the world the image of a new, liberal Germany. But at 4:40 a.m., the early shift of the American broadcaster ABC hears shots from the nearby Olympic Village. A group of Palestinian terrorists has taken eleven members of the Israeli team hostage. Against the resistance of its own news department, the ABC Sports team reports live on the 21-hour hostage-taking. The story is told by Geoff, a young, ambitious producer who wants to prove himself to his boss, the legendary Roone Arledge. With the help of the German interpreter Marianne, Geoff unexpectedly takes over the direction of the live broadcast. With time running out, conflicting rumors making the rounds, and the lives of the hostages at stake, Geoff must make difficult decisions and grapple with his own moral compass. How can one report on such a situation when the perpetrators use the media attention for their own purposes? With »September 5«, the multi-award-winning Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum tells the story of the 1972 Olympic assassination attempt from an unusual perspective. Never before has this historical event, which also marks the zero hour of transnational terrorism, been filmed for the cinema from Germany. What began as a simple sports coverage developed into a live broadcast that would change the world forever. For the first time, a television crew is confronted with the challenge of terror reporting and has to ask itself to what extent its work influences events. A film about the responsibility of the media - not only in the seventies.