The plight of former Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has been recreated in Sydney across the past six weeks for Kriv Stenders’ The Correspondent, a new film based on his memoir The First Casualty that has now wrapped filming.
Richard Roxburgh takes on the role of the award-winning foreign correspondent who accepts a last-minute assignment to cover a colleague’s post in Cairo during the Arab Spring, only to be arrested and accused of terrorism.
With only his wits keeping him alive, Greste’s survival means staring down a powerful regime to fight for freedom.
Julian Maroun and Rahel Romahn portray Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, respectively, the two colleagues arrested alongside Greste, with the cast also including Yael Stone, Nic Cassim, Mojean Aria, Fayssal Bazzi, Majid Shokor, Josh McConville, and Hazem Shammas.
Peter Duncan, known for Rake and Operation Buffalo, wrote the screenplay, while former Network 10 news and current affairs general manager Carmel Travers is producing via Pop Entertainment.
Other creatives involved include production designer Fiona Donovan, DOP Geoffrey Hall, costume designer Joanna Mae Park, hair and makeup artist Holly Anderson, and casting director Anousha Zarkesh.
The film received production funding from Screen Australia, in association with Screen NSW, and support from Jovial Planet Productions, Spectrum Films, Dreamlight Studio and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund. Maslow Entertainment will distribute the film in Australia and New Zealand, with Moviehouse Entertainment managing international sales.
Travers, a former correspondent herself, said The Correspondent was a story that resonated with many global events.
“The amazing Australian cast, led by Richard Roxburgh and featuring Julian Maroun, Rahel Romahn, Yael Stone, and Mojean Aria, have delivered powerful and very moving performances,” she said.
“We can’t wait to bring this directorial tour-de-force from Kriv Stenders to the big screen.”
Maslow Entertainment founder and managing director Marc Wooldridge described the film as the “sort of interesting and ambitious project that we believe cinema audiences want to see more of”.
“The Correspondent promises to be an engrossing, tense, and thought-provoking film based on a true story of timeless relevance and grounded in the compelling themes of resilience, loyalty and courage under fire,” he said.