We are then probably the relatives
Start of shooting for the film adaptation of the Reemtsma kidnapping
"We are then probably the relatives" -shooting start photo (from left): Director, screenwriter and producer Hans-Christian Schmid, leading actor Claude Heinrich and cameraman Julian Krubasik.
© NDR / Gerald von Foris
In 1996 the millionaire heir Jan Philipp Reemtsma was kidnapped. Director Hans-Christian Schmid is now bringing the criminal case to the cinema.
The first flap for the film adaptation of the novel "We are then probably the relatives" by musician Johann Scheerer (38) fell in Hamburg. The book and the film of the same name by director, screenwriter and producer Hans-Christian Schmid (55, "Sturm") tell about the kidnapping of his father Jan Philipp Reemtsma (68) in 1996 from the perspective of 13-year-old Johann the story of a family in a state of emergency ", it says in the press release of the NDR.
That's what the movie is about
On March 25, 1996, the publicist Jan Philipp Reemtsma was kidnapped. His son Johann (Claude Heinrich) and his wife Ann Kathrin (Adina Vetter) witness how their home is transformed into an operations center overnight. Two police officers, the family lawyer and a close friend form a community of fate, connected only by the common goal of getting Johann's father home as quickly as possible and unharmed.
For more than four weeks, Johann witnessed how tough the struggle with the kidnappers is and how the agonizing uncertainty troubles everyone in the house. How do you cope with worry, fear and boredom? How do you fill the days when anything can happen at any time, but at the same time you are forced to wait?
Theatrical release planned for 2022
In addition to the two actors mentioned, Justus von Dohnányi (60, "Charité"), "Tatort" star Fabian Hinrichs (born 1974), Hans Löw (born 1976), Yorck Dippe (born 1969) and Enno Trebs ( born 1995) on board. Shooting will take place in Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia until the end of May. "We are then probably the relatives" is scheduled to start in German cinemas in 2022.
The real Jan Philipp Reemtsma was released on April 26th by the four kidnappers – who have since been captured and convicted – for a ransom of 30 million Deutschmarks after 30 days of imprisonment. He wrote the book "Im Keller" (1997) about his abduction, imprisonment and liberation.