Use in Filming
The Ministry tends to restrict access to the Bendlerblock, due to its historical significance and lingering sensitivities about Germany's role in World War II. Filming permission was granted to a movie studio in 2003, but the Ministry of Defence was displeased with the result. The Ministry hesitated to grant permission for scenes of the Tom Cruise-starred movie, Valkyrie, about the July 20 Plot, to be filmed there. However, permission was eventually granted, and filming took place. (The movie was primarily photographed in and around Berlin, with some African and other scenes filmed in California.) Director Bryan Singer led the film crew in a minute of silence before filming began, in honour of those who were executed on the site in 1944.
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