A new Netflix film is in development, inspired by the true story of German NGO Jugend Rettet and its ship Iuventa, which rescued thousands of migrants in the Mediterranean before being seized by Italian authorities in 2016.
The film, as yet untitled, follows the journey of a group of young Berliners who find themselves unable to stand by and watch as countless refugees die trying to reach Europe by sea. They launched a crowdfunding campaign to buy an old boat and venture out to sea to rescue migrants.
Netflix premiered the film starring Louis Hofmann on Wednesday after a successful filming start in Berlin. The film is currently filming in Malta.
In addition to Louise Hoffman in the title role, the cast also includes Mara Amde, Katharina Stark, Frederic Liu, Maria Dragus, Trevor Magaya, Kathy Etoia , Felice, Saibon Wang, June Dancu, Merlin von Garnier, Louisa-Celine Gavron, and Omid Memar.
The film is directed by Marcus Goller and co-written by Oliver Ziegenbarger and Michelle Zink. Academy Award winners Christian Goldbeck and Volker Bertelmann are responsible for production design and music (the winning team from Everything is silent on the Western Front), with Frankie DeMarco coordinating photography.
Producer Christopher Zwickler of Fute Film and Markus Goller and Oliver Ziegenbalg of Sunnysideup Filmproduktion are in charge of production.
