Petra Epperlein makes documentaries with her husband Michael Tucker. Epperlein was born in Karl Marx City, GDR, and began her professional life as an architect. Her credits include “The Last Cowboy,” “Gunner Place,” “The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair,” “Bulletproof Salesman,” “How to Fold a Flag,” “Fightville,” and, most recently, “Karl Marx City.”

“The Meaning of Hitler” is screening at the 2020 DOC NYC film festival, which is taking place online from November 11-19.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

PE: The idea for the film began when I stumbled upon Sebastian Haffner’s 1978 bestseller of the same name and set out to use his analysis of Hitler as a frame to explore the current rise of white nationalism around the world. Of course, that was the original idea — a simple one — but there is nothing simple about exploring Hitler and Nazism and how they intersect with the present.

The more we researched, the more we saw that that the very idea of an objective history is in peril right now, whether that’s in Poland, where history has been weaponized, in Germany, where some complain of fatigue with the past, or here in the U.S., where history has become a political talking-point.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

PE: I’m East German and began my professional life in a unified Germany where the process of “coming to terms with the past” was always in the forefront of social discourse. The past intersected with everything.

But then the migration crisis gave birth to a “new” kind of white nationalism in Europe. Suddenly, seemingly ordinary people were taking to the streets with their hearts filled with hate. It was hard to understand the surge of support for white nationalism and the prevalence of anti-Semitism. And then Charlottesville happened. Had history lost all meaning?

W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?

PE: Looking back at the process of making this film, the thing that stands out most is that the entire time we were filming, our interview subjects were cautious not to draw direct lines between the past and present, but they were also determined that the audience understand that the Hitlerism they were discussing didn’t just exist on a piece of film; it lived within all of us.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

PE: The subject matter itself was the challenge — it’s more vast and deep than anything we tackled before and it’s also the sort of subject that everybody has an opinion about.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

PE: The film was funded with private equity from a mix of investors.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

PE: Growing up behind the Iron Curtain, I made my first film to tell a story that couldn’t be told otherwise. I knew nothing about filmmaking, but knew the world that I came from and wanted to share it. Few mediums offer such immediate satisfaction — to see your dream onscreen is magical.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

PE: To eat ice cream at midnight. But, seriously, it’s hard to navigate all the advice and notes you receive when making a film. You need to trust your own vision. Look at your own first notes. But be open to criticism and look for patterns.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

PE: At a time when filmmaking technology is incredibly affordable and accessible, my best advice to anyone is to not wait for permission to make your film. Don’t wait for a green light: just go. And learn how to do everything and forget about trying to follow rules or conventions. Just tell your story with an original voice.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why. 

PE: Any film by Chantal Akerman. She was truly an independent thinker.

W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how?

PE: Editing a film in a dark room is a pretty perfect match for any lockdown. We also just used the last months to travel 12,000 miles around the country during this crucial moment and it felt great to be out shooting, no matter how difficult.

W&H: Recent protests in the U.S. and abroad have highlighted racism and anti-Black police brutality. The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make Hollywood and/or the doc world more inclusive?

PE: Clearly, the industry — from festivals to buyers — is waking up to the reality that inclusion is essential and I hope that the initiatives we’ve seen are long lasting.

The biggest challenge I see is to enlist more people with diverse backgrounds as gatekeepers, which will ensure a broader worldview. There is much talk about “decolonizing” spaces. Documentary is definitely a space that will benefit from some institutional soul-searching.