Simple As Water – World Premiere Tribeca film festival NY

I am very grateful to have been the dop on this beautiful and heartbreaking movie.

Simple as Water is a soft-spoken meditation on love, displacement, and fracturing familial relations from Academy Award-winner Megan Mylan (Lost Boys of Sudan, Smile Pinki). From Turkey to Greece to Germany to the U.S., the bond of close relatives transcends borders for Syrian families impacted by the repercussions of perpetual war.

As a conflict at home forces separation and movement to unfamiliar ground, Mylan’s cinematic lens finds the powerful yet everyday acts of nurturing and kinship, travelling with her protagonists as they build a new sense of belonging. From brotherly protection, motherly love, and the playful guidance of a sibling, these closely observed scenes show touching stories of resilience and reveal ties that bind families together in the face of adversity.—Luke Moody

The Hunt for Gaddafi’s Billions. Broadcast. U.K BBC 1 March

The Hunt for Gaddafi’s Billions

Storyville

This investigative Storyville documentary takes us inside the dark and mysterious world of spies, special forces and political insiders as they race to find Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s billions in a dangerous treasure hunt.

In life, the Libyan leader ruled with an iron fist for 42 years and treated Libya’s wealth as his own. He died the richest man on the planet with a fortune of $150 billion. A dictatorial leader in life, the spell of Gaddafi’s money remained in place after his death, triggering a ruthless race to find his missing billions.

Two journalists pick up the trail of a mysterious $12.5 billion in cash, flown out of Libya in the dead of night just months before Gaddafi’s demise. In South Africa, they discover an eyewitness who seems to know all about the money. His testimony changes everything, but before he can provide them with proof the story takes a sinister twist, the first of many.

The journalists gain access to two rival teams hunting the money and chasing a huge payday. They criss-cross the world, following the rival hunters and seeking out the truth about the Gaddafi billions. There are deaths, a kidnapping and a major falling-out, not only between the teams but within the teams. The stakes are high for all the players in this secretive world.

As they gather more evidence, the two journalists realise that by delving into the African National Congress’s recent history, they may find a crucial lead to Gaddafi’s money. Will anyone get their hands on the cash and will it ever be returned to its rightful owners – the Libyan people? Or will they all destroy each other and themselves along the way?

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Release date:01 March 2021

1 hour, 31 minutes

 

On TV

Next Monday22:00

BBC FOUR

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BBC Storyville Orders Muammar Gaddafi Documentary From Brook Lapping

White Army and not related to the actual film

The U.K.’s BBC Four has commissioned a feature-length documentary that will investigate what became of the Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s immense wealth in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, which ended his reign.

Produced by Brook Lapping, “The Search for Gaddafi’s Billions” will air as part of the BBC’s long-running documentary banner Storyville, and will follow two Dutch journalists, Misha Wessel and Thomas Blom, as they enter the mysterious world of spies, special forces and political insiders who are hunting Gaddafi’s cash.

Broadcasters VPRO/NPO are the lead commissioners, and the 90-minute film is co-produced with ZDF/Arte and Brook Lapping in association with Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion. Brook Lapping is part of Zinc Media Group.

Greg Sanderson, director of London Television for Zinc Media Group, said: “Enigmatic in life, it is no surprise that Gaddafi’s legacy is a tale of intrigue and violence. This film follows a deadly trail, covering large parts of the world, to find the missing billions. Our films are renowned for uncovering the real events behind modern history’s key moments. This film is no exception and we expect it to build on its strong pre-sales to garner strong international interest.”

Mandy Chang, commissioning editor for BBC Storyville, said: “The dark story of Muammar al-Gaddafi, and what happened to the billions he amassed and stashed outside Libya during his lifetime is shrouded in mystery. As the Libyan people, robbed of vast reserves that Gaddafi took for himself, remain impoverished and locked in a power vacuum, two competing groups mount a hunt for the twelve and a half billion dollars, that Gaddafi hid in South Africa.”

The documentary will be part of several Storyville programs scheduled for this fall and winter. It is executive produced by Greg Sanderson and Karen Edwards for Brook Lapping at Zinc Media Group and distributed globally by All3Media International.