JIFF: The Mad Dog of Europe

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The Mad Dog of Europe

Australian Premiere

You might know him as the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Citizen Kane, but ten years before Kane, Herman J. Mankiewicz wrote The Mad Dog of Europe, a groundbreaking anti-Nazi film which depicted the implosion of a German-Jewish family and anticipated Hitler’s rise to power. It was his most daring, most political and perhaps finest work – but it was never produced.

In this new documentary which spans the 1930s, filmmaker Rubika Shah shines a light on Mankiewicz (also the subject of David Fincher’s 2021 film Mank), his revolutionary screenplay, and the myriad reasons it was never produced by Hollywood. It reveals the precarious ties between the political and entertainment spheres in a world on the brink of war, and unveils antisemitism in the United States at this time, with dangerous resonances to our own cultural and political moment. The Mad Dog of Europe is a tribute to cinema’s outsiders and truth-tellers, and a passionate cri de coeur against the rise of nationalism, then and now.

Festival Appearances/Awards
Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna 2026 – Official Selection

Rating

Unclassified 15+

Duration

83 min

Country

Germany, France

Language

English

Director

Rubika Shah