50 years ago, on 6 May 1974, Willy Brandt resigned. The chancellor fell over the Guillaume affair. His advisor Günter Guillaume had been exposed as a GDR spy. It was a real feast for the press and his “party friends”. The four-part documentary series “WILLY – Betrayal of the Chancellor” by rbb, SWR, NDR and WDR reconstructs the most serious espionage affair in the Federal Republic of Germany – from a woman’s perspective.

In four 30-minute episodes, filmmakers Jan Peter and Sandra Naumann tell a story of secrets, lies and betrayal that resembles a puzzle. “WILLY – Betrayal of the Chancellor” is a political thriller that links the past with the present, thanks in part to archive clips from the reporting of the time. A special feature of the documentary is the perspective on the historical events of this era from a woman’s point of view: the protagonists of the series include journalist and Brandt confidante Heli Ihlefeld, GDR spy Lilli Pöttrich, author and podcaster Yasmine M’Barek, journalist Eva-Maria Lemke and historian and bestselling author Katja Hoyer. As in their previous works (“Rohwedder”, “Deutschland 9/11”, “Der letzte Flug”, “LUBI – Ein Polizist stürzt ab”), Jan Peter and Sandra Naumann make history tangible for a contemporary audience.