Janus Metz on ‘Rescue’ and Saving Migrants in the Mediterranean With Partner Sine Plambech and Doctors Without Borders (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Annika Pham Danish filmmaker Janus Metz (“Borg vs McEnroe,” “Armadillo”), most recently attached to Season 2 of “Star Wars” series “Andor,” has his mind and heart fully-immersed these days not in a galaxy far, far away, but in real-life stories of human beings, risking their lives in the Mediterranean, in hope of a better life in Europe.

With his observational doc “Rescue,” selected for CPH:DOX’s co-production and co-financing showcase CPH:Forum in Copenhagen, the director has teamed up with his life partner Sine Plambech, a renowned anthropologist, filmmaker and migrant researcher.

After a series of landmark documentaries on marriage and sex work between Thailand and Denmark including the Zurich Golden Eye winner “Heartbound” (2018), the duo is currently documenting the human tragedy and political game playing out in the Mediterranean, from the viewpoint of the search and rescue vessel Geo Barents, operated by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Médecins sans Frontières).

Thanks to unprecedented access to the MSF vessel for a full year, the filmmakers have been following at close range a group of rescuers – mostly women – as they save migrants and refugees, while navigating the opposition from armed militias, coast guards and the EU agenda of financing North African countries to stop migration at the source.