PLUNDERER: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A NAZI ART THIEF
Format: Historical Documentary – 2 Part Series
Client: PBS
Release: 2nd February 2025
At the start of 2025, PBS aired a haunting two-part Secrets of the Dead special, Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief, a chilling investigation into the world of Nazi art theft. Directed by Hugo Macgregor and produced by John S. Friedman, Hugo Macgregor, and David M. Milch, the series exposes the hidden networks of dealers, curators, and opportunists who profited from looted masterpieces during and after WWII.
To help tell these deeply disturbing stories, +3K was brought in to create animated sequences that reached beyond what live action alone could express. Across the documentary, we used animation as a powerful narrative tool, not to simply illustrate, but to evoke even the strongest of emotions.
WHY ANIMATION? BECAUSE IT REVEALS THE UNSEEN.
Director Hugo Macgregor had a clear vision. He wanted to use animation not as decoration, but as revelation. These weren’t flashbacks. They were shadows, fragments of trauma, flickers of memory, the unspoken truths still echoing through time.
Our team designed a unique 2D, hand-drawn style that was intentionally loose, sketchy, and spectral. We leaned into a ghost-like aesthetic, using shadow and distortion to depict the insidious nature of the past. These sequences gave voice to the intangible: memories suppressed, guilt inherited, and horrors that resist direct representation.
This approach demonstrates something we deeply believe at +3K, animation is not a genre – it’s a storytelling superpower. It can be bold or subtle, fantastical or grounded. It can reach into the past, depict the impossible, and stir emotion in ways few mediums can. For filmmakers working in documentary or live action, animation offers limitless potential to deepen narrative impact, no matter the theme, tone, or audience.
THE SHOW
Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief follows historian Jonathan Petropoulos as he investigates Bruno Lohse, a key figure in the Nazi looting machine. With access to personal letters, surviving associates, art curators, and descendants of victims, the series peels back layers of deceit and reveals the dark heart of the post-war art world.
WHERE TO WATCH
Secrets of the Dead is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
A production of Living Memory Productions in association with The WNET Group, in association with the Dr. David M. Milch Foundation, ARTE, Bayerischer Rundfunk and Taglicht Studios. SECRETS OF THE DEAD is a production of the WNET Group. Stephanie Carter is executive producer. Stephen Segaller is executive in charge. Directed by Hugo Macgregor and produced by John S. Friedman, Hugo Macgregor and David M. Milch.
Animation provided by +3K Animation Studios.