The long-awaited film The Devil’s Handshake is now complete and will be available on Superchannel and Amazon Prime in Canada just in time for Christmas. Although the documentary spent less than a year in production, it has been over a decade in the making. The concept coming out of the film The Paper Nazis: Winnipeg’s Fascist and Nazi Movements of the 1930’s. Directed by Andrew Wall and Produced by Kyle Bornais in 2010.
The new film The Devil’s Handshake follows filmmaker Andrew Wall as he uncovers a dark trail of obscure footnotes and forgotten publications. His investigation leads to a family member with a complicated legacy and a long-buried community secret: Nazi propaganda and support within the Canadian Mennonite community.
Creating the film was a fascinating journey, including trips to Nuremberg, Germany, and New Zealand to meet scholar James Urry. Though not a Mennonite himself, Urry is a celebrated expert on Mennonite history and the one person who truly understood Andrew’s personal connection to this complex and dark chapter of Mennonite history.
“It’s been a strange and unsettling journey, one that left me both uncomfortable and deeply stunned at times. You grow up watching black-and-white films about the Second World War, never imagining you could have a personal connection to such significant world events—or to people you’d never expect to be just a degree of separation away… like Adolf Hitler.”
– Filmmaker Andrew Wall
As the POV film was in the final stages of post production, our crew has hit the road gathering interviews for our upcoming series Nazis: Threads of Evil. The series examines the lives of those who made up the Third Reich like Hitler’s right hand man, Rudolf Hess, the bombastic commander of the Luftwaffe Herman Goring, Rene Leifenstahl and many more. Yes, the concept emerged from the research and production travels undertaken during The Devil’s Handshake.
The R31 crew has journeyed to locations such as England, Washington, Toronto, Florida, Germany, and Vancouver, engaging with some of the foremost experts who study, lecture, and write about this dark chapter of the twentieth century. These include:
- Dr. Lynette Nusbacher – Strategist, veteran, author, and lecturer, renowned for her engaging contributions to television.
- Dr. Thomas Weber – German-born historian, author, and professor specializing in modern German history.
- James Wyllie – Historian and author of Nazi Wives: The Women at the Top of Hitler’s Germany.
- Dr. Fathali Moghaddam – Iranian-born psychologist, author, and Georgetown University professor specializing in political plasticity and the future of democracy and dictatorship.
Their insights shed light on the complex figures and forces behind this dark period in history.
Stay tuned for more news…