Film about Kim Dotcom: Stuck in the Web: The Polarization of Kim Schmitz

Mr. Behsi, the name Kim Schmitz is causing negative reactions in your old hometown. yours too?

But mixed feelings. Is he the hero or the villain? We will leave the answer to the viewers. The response to the film so far shows that we have managed to strike a difficult balance and not present an uncritically glorified biopic.

The image of the convicted pirate from Kiel and the image of the supposed Robin Hood, as depicted by Schmitz himself, are quite far apart. Will you help him clear his name?

He has succeeded in reinventing himself. Every country has its own story with him, and we bring them together in the film. But no one comes out well – not New Zealand, not the United States, and not Kim either. Surely the Germans will take something new from him.

Did you know him from the German media before?

No, I was very young and immigrated to Australia and then to New Zealand as a student in 2000. I also did not know about the “Megaupload” portal. I only learned about Schmitz when he was arrested in 2012. When the call to make documentaries came soon after, it was a “no-brainer” – the biggest international story New Zealand had seen at the time.

You had actually been working on the film with director Annie Goldson for a few years before you got an interview with Kim Schmitz. Why did he agree at the last minute?

He knew we would be making the movie without him, and he was smart enough to speak for himself instead of leaving it up to others.

Did you both being German help?

Better not. In the first meeting I spoke in German. But that probably didn’t give me any extra points. Contact was mainly with the manager.

He also eventually gives you his own footage.

We had a huge server full of all the resolutions, most of which were produced in high quality. It has been photographed by film crews for years.

Did he want to make his own movie?

Maybe it was just home videos of his kids. He spent thousands of dollars on it. But we looked for material he wasn’t aware of on camera – for example, when he emerges from custody and meets his pregnant wife Mona back at home for the first time. Moments like this show him as a human being – not a show.