Ever hear of "Swastika"? Maybe not; Philippe Mora and Lutz Becker's 1973 documentary about how Nazis infiltrated German lives had a rough go ever since its Cannes Film Festival premiere, which had to be stopped when audience members began fighting. However, after a 36-year ban in Germany, it will premiere at the Biberach Film Festival in October, followed by a screening in Berlin. 

The footage that inspired the fisticuffs came from Eva Braun's color home movies of Adolf Hitler playing with children at his home in Obersalzberg. In an email to Variety, Mora writes, "Of course, the whole point of the film was that Hitler was a human being and if we didn't recognize that, we would not see the next one coming." (He also says that German "distributors claimed, among other things that it was anti-German.")

"Swastika" went on to open in London, Washington D.C, Paris and Sydney. A stolen print also wound up unwound on the graves of Jews at Paris' Pere Lachaise cemetary. (Mora credits "Baader Meinhof types" for that stunt.)

Writes Mora:

BTW I am Jewish, my father was high up in the French Resistance and my godfather was Marcel Marceau, another Jewish resistance fighter -- they both thought the film was spot on. Marceau once did an instant imitation of Hitler at the late Le Dome that brought the house down. Generally the reviews got it, and were great--first look at the real Hitler, etc. Washington Post, Time magazine, Variety & many others gave kudos. (BTW the home movie color film we located is now on cable in myriad films every day--History Channel, etc.). Bert Schneider's BBS picked it up for U.S and it was released non-theatrically by Paramount, and theatrically by the Pedas Brothers in D.C.

The film will also receive a special screening at the British Film Institute in September, followed by a new DVD release in the U.K. And you can watch a six-minute clip from the film, above.

Two former journalists believe PayPal donations will bring them the $3 million they need to complete "Not Evil Just Wrong," a documentary that takes on "global warming alarmists." The film's website (which, as of Monday morning, says it's received $1.6 million) describes it as "the most controversial documentary of the year" and "This is the film Al Gore and Hollywood don't want you to see." Not that there's a film yet to see, Harry McGee reports; the Irish Film Board called the unfinished doc "repetitive and creatively thin." Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer's first documentary, "Mine Your Own Business," was largely funded by a "mining company that wanted to develop an open pit gold mine in an impoverished village in Romania" and "contended that the actions of environmentalists were destroying communities and lives in developing countries." McAleer says the mining money did not compromise the film. "They saw what I had written [about the village] in the Financial Times and saw that I was representing it in a fair way. Also they had a good story to tell. They were the only people who could save this village from being destroyed by environmentalists." [Irish Times]

Kirsten Dunst has teamed with Jacob Soboroff and Participant Media to direct and produce as-yet untitled documentary about how Americans vote. The actress plans to narrate the documentary, but doesn’t know yet whether she will appear in it. They met when she offered Soboroff performance tips while recording election commentary for National Public Radio; Soboroff is also the director of nonprofit Why Tuesday?, which works to increase voter turnout. They're currently in North Dakota, the only state that doesn't require its residents to register to vote. Click on the video to see Dunst and Soboroff travel to Norwalk, Calif. last month to cast their absentee ballots. [AP]

No one looks to BusinessWire for hard-hitting news, but it's tough to write 800 words without saying something. However, Paley Center for Media and SnagFilms found a way: Throw their boilerplates into a blender, hit puree and hope someone takes the results for an unusually creamy soup. The headline starts well -- "The Paley Center for Media and SnagFilms Announce Alliance To Offer New Outlets for Documentary Filmmakers and Enthusiasts." So Paley's working hard to shake the dust off its previous identity as the Museum of Television and Radio; SnagFilms (which recently bought IndieWire) is putting Ted Leonsis' money where his mouth is. Great! However, after close rereadings I think they're trying to say, without making any promises, is that they like each other. [Business Wire]

"Slacker Uprising" follows Moore's 62-city tour during the 2004 election to rally young voters. It will be available for three weeks beginning Sept. 23 at SlackerUprising.com as a free download to North American residents. Moore says it's a symbol of gratitude to fans as he approaches the 20th anniversary of "Roger & Me." His last two films, "Sicko" ($24 million) and "Fahrenheit 9/11" ($119 million) are two of the three highest-grossing documentaries ever. The DVD release is Oct. 7. [Associated Press]

Writes Sharon Waxman, "The cable channel is poised to acquire the still-in-progress documentary, according to individuals on both sides of the deal. A movie studio may also buy theatrical rights, I’m told." Two years in the making, Norton is one of five producers on the as-yet untitled doc directed by Amy Rice and Alicia Sams. According to Waxman, the filmmakers want to "release the film within the first 100 days of an eventual Obama presidency." [WaxWord]