Natascha Kampusch

S1, E1: This documentary feature describes Natascha Kampusch’s eight and a half years of captivity, narrated mostly from the victim’s point of view. For the first time ever, footage from inside the kidnapper’s home are shown, including the basement dungeon, where Natascha was kept throughout her ordeal. The documentary starts with the day of her abduction. Natascha’s mother, Brigitta Sirny, describes the morning of March 2nd, 1998, when she sent her daughter off to school. Natascha explains how she was kidnapped on the street by a man. Soon after, the police started a large-scale search for the missing girl, which was to become the largest in the history of Austrian law enforcement. Natascha Kampusch provides viewers with in-depth looks into her life during her eight years of captivity. We learn how she was tortured and humiliated by her kidnapper. And yet, the young woman says to day, she forgave Wolfgang Priklopil the moment she was abducted, or else she would not have been able to bear all those years of captivity. For Brigitta Sirny, the kidnapping meant eight and a half years of uncertainty about the fate of her daughter – an ordeal of her own, which she describes in vivid detail. The kidnapper’s best friend, Ernst Holzapfel outlines Wolfgang Priklopil’s personality in broad strokes, and he tells the story of his encounter with Natascha Kampusch in July 2006, while she was still held captive, and that he had no suspicion whatsoever about the crime that was being committed. The documentary ends with Natascha’s story of her escape. She describes August 23rd, 2006, and the time that followed, in which rumors were spread about child pornography networks and alleged accessories to the crime. In this context, she criticizes the Austrian media that tried to portray her ordeal even worse than it actually was. Her hope is to be regarded not only as the victim of a crime but to be treated as an ordinary human being.