Released in 2012, this docu-drama features two actresses as Friedrich: Katharina and Anna Thalbach.
Katharina Thalbach has been acting since she was very young, in East Germany. Her voice is easy to recognize. Even though her role in Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland is very small, she remains memorable even there. She’s also a key player in the Rubinrot series, Bibi und Tina, and many other films.
Anna Thalbach also started acting very young and also in East Germany. She’s been involved in many of Katharina’s projects, especially early on. More recently, she’s been in Der Untergang, the Baader-Meinhof Complex, Frau Ella, and many others.
Anna looks remarkably like her mother and that really helps the continuity of this docu-drama. Drama is broken up by interviews with historians, including an English-speaker, who is dubbed into German. This portion ensures that the film remain educational and informative.
There are brief discussions of sexuality, mostly in the context of Friedrich not necessarily wanting a wife or a partner of any gender, but as king, there were certain expectations of him. As a documentary with dramatic aspects (making it also entertaining), I’d recommend this for the classroom in a history unit, and it’s structured in such a way that would allow for clips instead of the full film if that works better for the course.