“While AfD people are currently paying homage to Putin”: Joko and Klaas show a three-hour Ukraine documentary on ProSieben

The originally planned 15 minutes of airtime that the two had won on their house channel ProSieben as part of a game show was used on Thursday evening for the documentary “Joko & Klaas Live- #dontlookaway”. extended to more than three hours.

What are the 15 minutes?

In the ProSieben show “Joko & Klaas versus ProSieben”, the two entertainers play in several small games against their house broadcaster. The principle works as follows: If the two moderators win the games, they are allowed to play the following evening 15 minutes of broadcasting time at prime time at 8:15 p.m. are completely free and determine what is broadcast on ProSieben.

The two stars have already used these 15 minutes in the past to draw attention to social and political issues such as sea rescue, right-wing extremism and women’s rights. Instead of the usual 15 minutes, this time Joko and Klaas showed an around 200-minute – and completely ad-free – documentary. With the film #dontlookaway, the two presenters wanted to focus on the fate of Bringing attention to people who, from their point of view, should be heard and seen.

Documentary #dontlookaway – What is it about?

In the documentary, a drone pilot, a surgeon, a city administration employee, an evacuation helper and a police officer in Ukraine talk and describe the horror of the Russian war of aggression, which has now lasted more than 1,560 days.

According to the broadcaster, a contact person living in Ukraine conducted the interviews with those affected. The film begins with the words of a protagonist: “Some time ago they sent us cameras to Ukraine and asked: What would you tell people about your everyday life? What should they see? That’s what we want to show you. This is what our days look like. This is our life. Don’t look away.“

The documentary ends with the words: “When war comes, it is so shocking. It changes everything. That’s why we live in the moment.”

People in Ukraine show everyday war life

In the documentary, the protagonists change constantly. Surgeon Andriy can be seen bandaging the arm of a seriously injured man and saying that bodies would also be brought in. Then people who have lost their loved ones are shown crying loudly.

Olha, an employee of a municipal enterprise of the Kherson City Council, walks through destroyed apartments. An 81-year-old resident says, If she had been there when the drone hit, she would be dead now. Drone pilot Dmytro shows dozens of drones standing on the floor of an apartment and says: “Our drones that are going to kill today.” While a policewoman asks with a desperate look: “Why is this suffering happening to us?”

At the end, the doctor Andriy says that he really wishes that there would never be such a terrible war again. But he has the impression that the war will never end. He really wants to go back to his wife. Says the 39-year-old.

If the Protagonists walk through residential areas with their handheld camerasthe scenery often seems peaceful at first – until house ruins, charred cars, heavily armed and severely traumatized people stand in front of the cameras and reveal the depressing reality.

Joko and Klaas address participants at Putin’s economic forum

The two moderators commented via Instagram parallel to the publication of the documentary on ProSieben. Joko thanked the broadcaster ProSieben for broadcasting the three-hour documentary.

Klaas, in turn, addressed his words explicitly to the supporters of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin: “If you think about the fact that right now a few people from the AfD and some business bosses […] Sitting there at the economic forum in Saint Petersburg and paying homage to Putin: look who you’re actually with. While you’re watching, think about what kind of feeling that makes you feel.“

Since 1997, the Kremlin has organized an annual economic forum in Russia. Around 20,000 visitors from 130 countries are expected at the conference, which runs until Saturday – politicians from the right-wing extremist AfD are also taking part this year. The trip of Bundestag members Markus Frohnmaier and Steffen Kotré However, it was met with sharp criticism in this country, including from the federal government.

ProSieben Ukraine documentary is particularly popular with young people

The two entertainers are among the most important faces of the broadcaster ProSieben. Productions like “Joko & Klaas versus ProSieben” regularly reach a large audience and are considered important ratings drivers for the station.

The spontaneous broadcast was particularly interesting among younger audiences: an average of 310,000 viewers between the ages of 14 and 49 tuned in to the film over 200 minutes; that corresponded to one Market share of 9.7 percent. A total of 460,000 people took part.

According to ProSieben, the so-called net reach was 2.88 million people, as the industry service “DWDL.de” reported on Friday morning. This means that so many people were exposed to the film, at least for a short time. For comparison and classification: The ratings winner from 8:15 p.m. was the ARD repeat “The Zurich Crime: Borchert and the Shot in the Heart” from 2024 with around 4.1 million viewers (including 266,000 under 50). (dpa, aim)