Jim Deddes, Tenzing Woing and Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi, known for his Oscar-nominated role in “Captain Phillips,” lead the cast of “Maalstroom,” which has just wrapped. Variety has been given the first-look image.
The Dutch-Belgian co-production was written and directed by Teddy Cherim, and produced by Marten van Warmerdam.
In “Maalstroom,” a struggling barge skipper Jan takes on an urgent shipment of sand from Dunkirk to Rotterdam in a last attempt to save himself from financial ruin. Shortly after setting off, he discovers 11 refugees hidden in his cargo. As Jan races north along the canals, his unwanted passengers force him to confront a reality far removed from his own and to see life from a new perspective.
Jan is played by Deddes who previously worked with Cherim on “Joardy Season.” Woing, previously seen in the lead role of the TV film “Happy Palace,” plays Jan’s deckhand Edward. Abdi plays Bahdoon, a role Cherim wrote with him in mind.
Abdi received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations and won a BAFTA for his breakthrough performance in “Captain Phillips,” and has since appeared in films including “Good Time,” directed by Benny and Josh Safdie, and Denis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049.”
The cast also includes Abdulaal Hussein, Hana Hussein, Anas Derow, Merhawi Kesete, Hiba Ali, Issa Musa, Sabine Berhe-Hagosse, Orwa Zaid, Hanna Mussie and Mohammed Terwis.
Cherim said, “The subject matter is heavy, but the film is at times also light-footed. The humor in ‘Maalstroom’ comes from the situation on board the ship, which is inherently surreal. The way Europe deals with migrants is fundamentally bizarre: the contradictions, the bureaucracy, the fear, the denial. The film holds up a mirror to that absurdity.”
Cherim previously directed series including “Joardy Seaon” and “Vakkenvullers.” In 2019, he was nominated for a Golden Calf for the boundary-pushing VR documentary “Meet the Soldier,” in which viewers experience an encounter through the eyes of two tribes in Uganda — a project that also contributed to real-life reconciliation between the tribes involved.
Van Warmerdam said, “The longer we work on this film, the more relevant it becomes. ‘Maalstroom’ makes a story tangible and recognizable by giving a face to the fears on both sides, through characters who unwillingly make the same journey aboard the same ship. The story brings the migration issue back to a human scale and shows both the dilemmas and the compassion that arise when lives truly touch one another.”
The film is produced by Graniet Film in the Netherlands, in co-production with Czar Film & TV in Belgium and Dutch public broadcaster NTR. It is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund, the Netherlands Film Production Incentive, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), CoBO, the Belgian Tax Shelter, Eurimages and RTL Film LLC.
Paradiso Filmed Entertainment expects to release the film in the Benelux next year.
