Champagne Spy, The

The time is 1961 and Egypt, under Gamal Nasser, is Israel’s biggest enemy. German scientists are helping the country make weapons of mass destruction and tension is high. Into this dangerous powder keg, the Israelis plant Ze’ev Gur Arie, under the assumed name Wolfgang Lotz, as a prosperous horse breeder. He marries, lives the high life, and embeds himself in the social hierarchy of Cairo. Except, unbeknown to that world, he is already married and has a child.

His story is told by his son, who recalls his dislocated youth, the revelation of his father’s double life and the ultimate betrayal when his father is caught and imprisoned. Schirman’s film, a surprisingly frank and detailed account of espionage in the 60s, is as much a poignant personal story as it is a look behind the Mossad curtain. Arie, Schirman contends, believed his cover, became it, loved it, forsook his real life and could not readapt to an unexceptional life once it was all over.