Netflix Unveils Movie About Migrant Rescue NGO Starring Louis Hofmann
Netflix unveiled the upcoming film about the real-life German NGO Jugend Rettet, and its ship Iuventa that rescued thousands migrants in the Mediterranean Sea before it was impounded.
Louis Hofmann, a highly-requested actor whose credits include Dark Ripley and Masters of the Air as well as All The Light We Cannot See (and who will soon be seen opposite Bella Ramsay in Monstrous Beauty), leads the cast.
Netflix has released a first look at the film, which is currently being shot in Malta after production began in Berlin. The film is a follow-up to a number successful German productions that Netflix has released, including the Emmy Award-winning series The Empress and the Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front.
The film tells the story of the founding of Jugend Rettet in 2015 by a group young Berliners, who felt obliged to act in response to the deaths of thousands of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea while they attempted to reach Europe through unofficial routes.
They launch a crowdfunding project to buy a ship that is old, but they are driven by passion. In 2016, its volunteers were able to rescue 14,000 people, but the work was stopped after Italy impounded the vessel in 2017.
Seven members of the group were then caught in a high-stakes legal battle against the Italian authorities who tried to portray their humanitarian acts as criminals.
Markus Goller directs the film, based on a screenplay written by Oliver Ziegenbalg and Michele Cinque.
Production designer Christian Goldbeck and composer Volker Bertelmann, who won Oscars for their work on All Quiet on the Western Front, are attached to the production, alongside Frankie DeMarco coordinating the cinematography.
Sunnysideup Filmproduktion’s Goller, Oliver Ziegenbalg and Christopher Zwickler are the producers.
Michele Cinque, creative producer at Lazy Film in Italy. Skadi lesske, Astrid weber and Mika braun are responsible for hair and makeup.
Cast members include: Mala Emde, Katharina Stern (Deutsches Haus), Frederick Lau, Felice (Saibon Wang), Joone Dankou (And Tomorrow The Whole World), Merlin von Garnier (The Entire World), Luisa Celine Gaffron (Crooks), Maria Dragus (Trevor Magaya), Kathy Etoa (Felice), Saibon, Wang, Joone, Dankou (Joone Dankou), Omid Memar, Omid,
