Filmmaker of “September 5th” on coping with the tragic event through tireless research and “utmost respect”

Tim Fehlbaum's “September 5” – a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival about the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics – is not a documentary. But the filmmaker, who attracted widespread attention with science fiction films such as “The Colony” and “Hell,” treated the film as one.

That meant Fehlbaum and his team spent many months of tireless research to figure out how events unfolded minute by minute, while also working with a set and production design team to create an authentic recreation of a sports broadcast facility like the one used by the ABC sports team on that fateful day in Munich, the filmmaker said during a press conference held Thursday afternoon in Venice on September 5.

“When the idea came up to perhaps tell the story, [of September 5]it became a research interview,” said Fehlbaum, adding that conversations with an eyewitness named Geoffrey Mason (played by John Magaro in the film) heightened the tension…