The Worst Thing

$295.00

“The film pulls us close without being intrusive, offers emotional depth without becoming sentimental, and maintains the required distance to function as a documentary. It is an all-around accomplished film.” - TOA Magazine [DE]

"Brings broken figures so close to reality that we transform ourselves into them, becoming their sworn shadow.” - Snowdance Independent Film Festival Jury

Snowdance Film Festival *Best Documentary*
Portland Film Festival
Anthology Film Archives, NYC

This morally-complex film concerning one woman’s search for resolution after years of trauma related to her brother’s death at the hands of German terrorists explores the radical concepts of restorative justice.

On August 7th, 1985, Edward Pimental, a Mexican-American soldier stationed in Wiesbaden, West Germany, was killed by members of the Red Army Faction (R.A.F.) in a plot to steal his ID and use it to access and bomb a US Army base. The R.A.F. (also known as the Baader-Meinhof group) was a far-left terrorist organization that had been interested in dismantling residual fascism in Germany after the Second World War, and especially intolerant of American actions in Vietnam. Two women, Birgit Hogefeld and Eva Haule, were convicted of participating in Pimental’s murder.

The Worst Thing follows Kathleen Pequeño, Edward’s sister, in her recent efforts to connect with Hogefeld, Haule, and other members of the R.A.F in an attempt to achieve restorative justice, a concept which involves victims and offenders meeting to speak about the crime committed and, through open communication and active listening, coming to an understanding of each other’s positions and attempting to heal old wounds. Kathleen, as a young woman, had been estranged from her family due to her mother’s religious intolerance of her homosexuality, and had further been traumatized by revelations concerning her absent father. As an adult, she takes steps to reconcile at least one part of her past by traveling frequently to Germany and meeting with the former left-wing terrorists.

While Kathleen’s attempts to allow her brother’s murderers a chance at redemption bewilder those around her, her steadfast determination to try to understand how self-proclaimed idealistic “freedom” fighters could murder an innocent man allows viewers of The Worst Thing to confront their own ideas of justice, redemption, and compassion. As the film follows her carefully and thoughtfully through her successes and failures, it allows us to marvel at how a woman can not only overcome past trauma, but also help others overcome theirs.

84 Minutes | English and German with English subtitles.

Directed by Desireena Almoradie

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