Richard Roxburgh, star of hit Netflix show “Rake” and “Elvis,” stars in “The Correspondent,” a fact-based thriller. He portrays Peter Greste, the veteran Australian TV news reporter who was arrested and detained in Cairo in 2013 while reporting for Al Jazeera.
Production of “The Correspondent” wrapped in Sydney, Australia after being directed by Kriv Stenders, who enjoyed major success in Australia with “Red Dog” and also directed hit “Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan.”
The film is based on Greste’s memoir “The First Casualty” and has an adapted screenplay by Peter Duncan (“Rake,” “Operation Buffalo”). Greste is an award-winning foreign correspondent who, along with two of his colleagues, was reporting on the Arab Spring uprising. Days into his assignment, he became a pawn in a deadly game of ancient rivalries. Surviving an inexplicable nightmare with only his wits keeping him alive, Greste was sentenced to seven years in jail, but was released in 2015.
Other cast include: Julian Maroun (“Fighting Season”) and Rahel Romahn (“Shantaram”) portraying Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, the two colleagues who were arrested alongside Greste.
Rounding out the cast are Yael Stone (“Orange Is the New Black”), Nic Cassim (“Mr Inbetween”), Mojean Aria (“Shayda”), Fayssal Bazzi (“Stateless”), Majid Shokor (“House of Gods”), Josh McConville (“Elvis”) and Hazem Shammas (“The Clearing”).
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“The Correspondent” is produced by Carmel Travers (“One Four – Against All Odds,” “Truth, Lies and Intelligence”), a former foreign correspondent and the first woman head of news and current affairs for an Australian television network, and a TV and feature film producer through her company, Pop Family Entertainment (“My Freaky Family,” “Alien TV,” “The Arvee Chronicles”).
The film is a Pop Family Entertainment production, with production funding from Screen Australia, in association with Screen NSW with support from Jovial Planet Productions, Spectrum Films, Dreamlight Studio and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund.
“’The Correspondent’ is a story that resonates strongly with so many global events, and the amazing Australian cast [..] have delivered powerful and very moving performances. We can’t wait to bring this directorial tour-de-force from Kriv Stenders to the big screen,” said Travers.
Maslow Entertainment is distributing in Australia and New Zealand, with Moviehouse Entertainment managing international sales.
“Screen Australia is proud to support Kriv Stenders, the creative team and brilliant cast, to bring such a vital story to screens across the globe. The Correspondent is an enlightening, passionate and courageous story – and we look forward to the film making an impact with audiences in Australia and beyond,” said Grainne Brunsdon, director of content at Screen Australia.
