Official Trailer
SYNOPSIS
THE SPIES AMONG US is a rare look into the inner workings of a data-driven surveillance state run by one of the most feared secret police forces the world has ever known – East Germany’s Stasi.
A personal investigation into family secrets by Peter Keup, a Stasi victim-turned-historian, takes a turn when he contacts the men who ran the system. These are the first dialogues between Stasi officers and a victim ever recorded on film.
Through these encounters a terrifying mosaic is built of the lengths people go to maintain power in a dictatorship, as well as the indomitable human spirit that seeks truth and self-determination.
Screenings & Events
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Brorsonhus
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Filarmonica – Sala Thalia
CineGOLD 7
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Twin Cities German Film Festival
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Lichtburg-Center Dinslaken
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Passau Scharfrichter Kino
Passau
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Central Kino
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Capitol Kino
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Erinnerungsort Stasi-Haftanstalt Töpferstraße
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Bundesakademie für Kulturelle Bildung
Upcoming Screening
Screening
Lichtburg-Center Dinslaken
Past Screenings & Events (31)
Past Screening
Screening
Alte Färberei
Past Screening
Screening
Lichtburg-Center Dinslaken
Past Screening
Screening
Movieland Theater 2
Richmond, VA 23230
Past Screening
Past Screening
Screening
SALA
Los Alamos, NM 87544
Past Screening
Screening
ARTrium Schönhagen
Past Screening
Screening
Cinema Amza Pellea
Rasnov, Brașov
Past Screening
Screening
Stasi-Zentrale. Campus für Demokratie
Innenhof
10365 Berlin
Past Screening
Screening
Audimax, Universität Potsdam
14469 Potsdam
Past Screening
Screening
Burg Kino, Vienna
Past Screening
Screening
Blitz Lichtspiele
Past Screening
Screening
Gedenkstätte Bautzner Straße Dresden
Past Screenings
Screening
The Historic Theater
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Screening
The Historic Theater
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Past Screenings
Screening
Cedar Lee Theatre
Screening
Playhouse Square
Past Screening
Upcoming Screening
Bartell Theatre
Past Screening
Special Screening
Innenstadt Kinos
Past Screening
Screening
Gedenkstätte Deutsche Teilung Marienborn
Past Screening
Screening
Black Family Visual Arts Center, Dartmouth College
Past Screening
Screening
Haymarket House
Past Screening
Screening
Kreativ Kathedrale Trudi
Special Event
German Premiere
Thursday, January 29, 2026 | 7:30pm
Zoo Palast Berlin
Followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and selected film subjects.
Past Screenings & Events
Screening
Filmtheater Kitzbühel Saal A
Past Screenings & Events
Screening
MITCHELL PARK COMMUNITY CENTER (SESSION 25)
Past Screenings & Events
Screening
Clairidge 1 (John J. and Rose Cali Theater)
Screening
Clairidge 2 (Warren Ross Jr. Theater)
Past Screenings & Events
Screening
3S ARTSPACE
Screening
3S ARTSPACE
Past Screenings & Events
Screening
Atlantic A
Screening
Atlantic A
Screening
Monday, Oct. 13, 2025 | 7:00pm
Atlantic A
Screening
Past Screenings & Events
Screening
THE SCREENING ROOM WEST
Past Screenings & Events
Screening
Regal Gallery Place
Past Screenings & Events
Screening
The Main 4
Screening
Edina Theatre
Past Screenings & Events
World Premiere
SXSW Documentary Competition
Saturday, March 8, 2025 | 11:45am
Alamo Lamar
Followed by a Q&A
Panel Discussion
» Listen to Audio
Data Surveillance & Cold War Tactics in Today’s World
Monday, March 10, 2025 | 11:30am
Austin Convention Center – Room 13AB
Screening
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | 11:15am
Alamo Lamar
Followed by a Q&A
Screening
Saturday, March 15, 2025 | 12:00pm
AFS Cinema
Followed by a Q&A
Press
‘The Spies Among Us’ Review: A Communist Dictatorship Is All Too Familiar in This Relevant Study of East German Stasi
“‘The Spies Among Us’ is the most important film about the East German secret police since the Oscar-winning feature film ‘The Lives of Others.’”
SXSW Film Review: The Spies Among Us
‘The Spies Among Us’ Shows a Victim Talking to Ex-Stasi Officers, Taking You Inside a Surveillance State
“A harrowing documentary”
The Documentary ‘The Spies Among Us’: Privacy and Surveillance Issues
The Best Movies and Shows of SXSW 2025
Partners
The Filmmakers
The Silvermans are Gotham (IFP) Documentary Lab Fellows, CNN/Film Independent Episodic Lab Fellows. Their work has been supported by the International Documentary Association, Catapult Film Fund, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, and Frameline Completion Fund. They are the first recipients of funding from the GLAAD Media Institute.
Their production company, SideXSide Studios, is a global documentary firm that specializes in consequential and high-visibility non-fiction storytelling. SideXSide’s first project was their 2016 Emmy-nominated New York Times Op-Doc, TRANSGENDER, AT WAR AND IN LOVE.
Prior to SideXSide Studios, the Silvermans worked in leading newsrooms. Gabe was a video journalist at The Washington Post where his work was recognized with more than a dozen awards, including an Edward R. Murrow Award for his investigative work, a White House News Photographers Award for Best Documentary, and two Emmy nominations. Jamie was the supervising producer for USA Today Sports, where she led editorial and branded video content strategy.
a film by SideXSide Studios
Directed & Produced by
Jamie Coughlin Silverman
Gabriel Silverman
Executive Producer
Nancy Blachman
Cinematography by
Gabriel Silverman
Edited by
Gernot Grassl
Original Music by
Marcus Nigsch
Film Subjects