Adolf Hitler and his mistress/wife Eva Braun (Photo courtesy Getty Images).
EQ Media Group is putting the finishing touches to two factual series about Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany commissioned by A+E Networks’ channels in the UK and Europe.
SBS also acquired Hitler’s Secret Sex Life and How the Nazis Lost the War, which international distributor Abacus Media Rights is pitching to buyers at the virtual MIPCOM.
Produced by Jacki Munro, the first, four-part series examines the rumours, theories and disputed historical accounts of the Nazi dictator’s sexual psychology, which ranged from incest and stalking women as a youth to masochism, sadism and murder.
Each episode contains archive material and interviews with historians, psychologists and sociologists.
The second, produced by Justin Holdforth, focusses on the poor decision-making, hubris and badly executed plans that belied the myth of the Nazi war machine and doomed them to failure.
Historians, sociologists and military strategists analyse the decline of Hitler’s empire and how its war machine became vulnerable.
The executive producer, EQ Media’s head of factual David Alrich, tells IF that Hitler’s Secret Sex Life was conceived by CEO Greg Quail some years ago but wasn’t commissioned.
“When COVID-19 hit, we realised archive shows were going to save production so we dusted it off and re-pitched it,” he said.
“It needed a companion to make up to 10 episodes, so we developed How The Nazis Lost the War in-house.
“Both series needed considerable research before they could be pitched so we commissioned historians in Australia and Canada to put together detailed treatments and pitched them to A+E networks in the UK and SBS.”