Soenke Wortmann, who won international plaudits for his 2003 drama "Miracle of Berne" about the 1954 West Germany team, has worked almost non-stop since the World Cup ended to turn 100 hours of raw film into a stirring documentary.

"Deutschland: Ein Sommermaerchen" (Germany: A summer fairy tale) is an electrifying mix of his fly-on-the-wall footage taken in dressing rooms, on buses and in hotels plus television clips of key scenes of Germany's matches.

It is receiving unprecedented media coverage before its red-carpet premiere in Berlin deliberately set on Oct. 3, a national holiday celebrating Germany's reunification.

Wortmann, once a third-division player himself, makes no attempt to conceal his growing admiration for coach Juergen Klinsmann, who allowed unlimited access for the documentary that will get a wide cinema release in 400 theatres on Thursday.

Using a small, hand-held camera, Wortmann tracked Klinsmann and the team who began as long shots but turned into feared opponents as the World Cup's hottest team on a wave of patriotism in the country that had long eschewed symbols of national pride.

"I think the team moved the whole country," Wortmann said in a recent interview with Reuters.

"It wasn't just a fleeting moment. It was such a wonderful thing and Germany's a different country now because of it. The mood was so special. I think it'll have a lasting impact."

The quickly made documentary revives that atmosphere, if only for 108 minutes. The 47-year-old director was still making final changes last week.

The film has its flaws -- for example, only insiders will understand the comments made by the team psychologist and media spokesman because neither are identified.

Wortmann also admitted he cheered so much at times that he sometimes left his camera on the bench and missed key moments.

"That was rather unprofessional of me," he said.

Voyeurs hoping for scenes of naked players in the dressing room will be disappointed as Wortmann carefully selected sequences to show mostly towel-covered players -- even though the director could not resist including a few bare bottoms.

There is also a dearth of conflict.

The film is an unabashed ode to Germany and its newfound patriotism that could get lost on, or perhaps bore, some foreign viewers.

Yet it offers a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of a team as they prepare for the World Cup, gain confidence from early wins and morph into a juggernaut that eventual champions Italy only just beat in extra time in the semifinal.

"After the Italy match we lost, a lot of people were weeping in the dressing room," said Wortmann, who said he found soccer players a lot easier to film than actors. "No one told me to turn the camera off. To me that showed these are great people."

He includes an intriguing scene of Italy defender Marco Materazzi eagerly waiting for Germany captain Michael Ballack in a tunnel under Dortmund stadium after the match to swap jerseys.

Materazzi, who in the final against France five days later got embroiled in an incident with Zinedine Zidane that led to the French captain's ejection, tries to console the dejected Ballack with hugs and kisses on the cheeks.

The film has its lighter moments.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is nervously shaking hands with the players at an informal meeting when midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger sticks his face in front of the camera with a loud stage whisper: "Hey, cut income tax rates, will you?"

Merkel overhears his gag but she then gives a serious answer when Arsenal's Jens Lehmann asks her in a surprisingly shy manner that defies his demeanour on the pitch if she "...um, er, ah planned any tax changes" that might lure him back to Germany.

Werder Bremen striker Miroslav Klose seems annoyed when a hairdresser does not know who he is, nor his team. She compounds his irritation by saying she knows all the players on Bremen's arch-rivals Bayern Munich.

Schalke's Gerald Asamoah is shown playfully dunking a teammate in a pool with such force and speed that it is hard to identify the victim.

Wortmann includes scenes of Klinsmann, who is also featured giving wonderful pep talks, in an uncharacteristically foul mood -- because an assistant is badly beating him at table tennis.

The only real conflict is at the end when captain Ballack opposes a suggestion to hold a giant farewell party with fans in Berlin after the last match, for third place, in Stuttgart.

The players, some of whom are eager to go on holiday, argue for and against the plan before taking a vote in favour of the now-famous farewell before a million fans -- which Ballack ended up visibly enjoying.