Get the latest gossip
Director-Activist Brandt Andersen On Making Omar Sy Starrer ‘The Strangers’ Case’ About Syrian Refugees: “It’s A By-Product Of All The Strong Emotions I Was Experiencing And All The Injustices That Were Taking Place”
Last month, when Brandt Andersen’s debut feature film The Strangers’ Case won the Amnesty International Film Award at Berlinale, it marked the recognition of a long and impassioned journey for the writer, director and long-time producer as he sought to marry film with his extensive activism background.
The drama, which world premiered as a Special Gala at Berlin, is an extended version of his Oscar-shortlisted short film Refugee and stars French actor Omar Sy and Lebanese-born Yasmine Al Massri. Andersen, whose producing credits include Everest, Lone Survivor and Golden Globe nominee The Flowers of War, writes and directs The Strangers’ Case and drew inspiration from people he encountered while working with humanitarian agencies in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Jordan and Syria. During this time he began to learn Arabic – “It was helpful so I could communicate with people who were coming in and out of the water” – but it was only in 2017, when former President Donald Trump had put a controversial laptop ban on U.S.-bound flights from certain airports in the Middle East, when Andersen set to writing what would ultimately become The Strangers’ Case.
Or read this on Deadline
