After the MMC Studios and at original locations in Dohuk, Northern Iraq, twisted Thriller by Peter Ott has already caused a sensation nationally and internationally at various festivals, RealFiction brings the film in German cinemas on January 18, 2018.
"The Milan Protocol" tells the story of Martina, a German doctor who works for a German aid organization in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq on the border with the "Islamic State". During a border trip, Martina is kidnapped by a Sunni group linked to the IS because they suspect a weapons transport.
This hostage situation develops into a gripping interplay in which all actors - IS, PKK, the Sunni tribes, and the German and Turkish intelligence services - pursue their own political interests and try to enforce them somehow.
After her liberation through BND contacts, Martina is questioned by German intelligence agent Moses about her time in captivity, though again it is not clear what role Moses actually plays in this story.
"The Milan Protocol" offers a realistic insight into the tangled conflict in northern Iraq, as well as the various interest groups and actors in this region of the Middle East, which we really only know from the news.
The main roles play Catrin Striebeck (Martina), Christoph Bach (Moses) and Samy Abdel Fattah (Ishmael). The director is Peter Ott, who also wrote the screenplay. The camera leads Jürgen Jürgeswho has already worked with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders, Andreas Kleinert and Michael Haneke. In addition to Jürgen Jürges, who handled the filming in Germany, was Jörg Gruber in northern Iraq as a cameraman. The production design is the responsibility of Silke Fischer and Jalal Saedpanah.
"The Milan Protocol" is a production of mîtosfilm (Mehmet Aktas) in co-production with WDR (Andrea Hanke), HR/ARTE (Jörg Himstedt / Birgit Kämper ) and MMC Movies Cologne (Bastie Griese / Philip Borbély), supported by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and DFFF.
The film was shot on original locations in northern Iraq in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan as well as in the MMC Studios shot in Cologne. Here were taken from the MMC Equipment built the set of the German consulate in Erbil in MMC Studio 42, where the interrogation by the BND takes place, and in MMC Studio 34 the house of the kidnappers, where the German doctor is held captive.
Theatrical release: January 18, 2018 distributed by Realfiction
More information and cinema list: www.realfictionfilme.de
Photo: The Milan Protocol: The Abduction. © RealFiction Film Distribution
"The situation in northern Iraq is really no different from the rest of the world.
Older men want to keep their privileges and this battle is fought over resources.
The only difference with Germany is the question of protocol - with or without violence."
- Director and screenwriter Peter Ott
