As one of the first women to join Hamburg's homicide squad in the 1990s, Marianne Atzeroth-Freier, almost single-handedly, convicted the „acid barrel murderer“, who went down in German history as one of the most horrific murder cases.

During a court break in an abduction case, Marianne Atzeroth-Freier is approached by an older woman, whose daughter went missing. She feels obliged to help her. During her search for the missing daughter, she repeatedly encounters inconsistencies and resistance within the male driven police system.

As she received no support from her colleagues or the head of her department, she was forced to investigate in her private time.

Through her meticulous way of investigating, her empathy and ability to listen to the relatives of the victims, Marianne Atzeroth-Freier was able to break through the dominance of cruelty.

She was able to uncover the terrible deeds, finds the missing victims, giving certainty to the relatives and finally convicts the murderer Lutz R.
Marianne Atzeroth-Freier never received recognition for this during her time in service.

Director Biography - Matthias Freier

Matthias Freier studied philosophy and film after graduation. In the middle of the 90ies, he moved to New York City for 6 years and visited the New York Film Academy. His short film "Fishmind" was shown at film festivals.
Back in Germany, he directed over 50 music videos and quickly became one of the most appreciated directors in his field.

The experience from the world of music videos and image films, helped him into directing commercials and he has enriched the advertising industry with honest and memorable pictures since.

The Toyota campaign "Start your impossible" for which he directed three films, won the Golden Lion in Cannes in 2018.

In 2022 he finished the short film „Hauskeeper“ which ran on many festivals.

The documentary film "The Invisible Ones" is a long-awaited and personal project that Matthias has been working towards for the last 20 years. The film tells the story of his stepmother Marianne Atzeroth-Freier. She was one of the first women to join the Hamburg homicide squad. In the 80s and 90s, her empathy towards the victims and her criminalistic instinct played a major role in catching one of the worst serial killers in Hamburg's history.

Awards: 2012 Cannes Gold for Corporate Media TV , Quadriga, Transform. 2013 Silver Effi for the films Deutsche Bahn: Kein Job wie jeder andere and Telekom: Stakkato. 2018 Golden Lion Cannes for the Toyota "Start your Impossible" campaign.