Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 25, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
British director Gavin Millar (COMPLICITY, DANNY—THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD) was creating a cinematic monument to the legendary jungle doctor with his elaborate drama. Filming was scheduled to continue through August 13 in Cape Town and Port St. Johns, South Africa.
Following the NFP productions BONHOEFFER and LUTHER, producer Alexander Thies turned his attention to the great Nobel Peace Prize winner. Albert Schweitzer, who came from Alsace, had already made a name for himself as a theologian, philosopher, and musician when he and his wife Helene decided to go to Africa and establish a hospital deep in the jungle that would become a symbol of his ethic of “reverence for life.” As a proverbial humanitarian, he enjoyed enormous popularity around the world, and his legacy has lost none of its relevance.
The title role is played by Jeroen Krabbé (KALMAN’S SECRET, THE FOURTH MAN), while Schweitzer’s wife and colleague Helene is portrayed by Barbara Hershey (THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, LANTANA). The high-profile cast also includes Judith Godrèche, Samuel West, Jeanette Hain as Schweitzer’s daughter Rhena, Jonathan Firth, and Armin Rohde as Albert Einstein.
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Synopsis: 1949, in the early years of the Cold War. Thanks to his tireless service to others at his jungle hospital in Lambaréné, Albert Schweitzer is one of the century’s most admired people. But during a visit to the United States with his wife Helene to raise funds for Lambaréné, he becomes caught between the fronts of world politics. Albert Schweitzer must decide how much his ethical convictions, lived out over decades, are worth to him. At almost 75, he takes on one of the greatest challenges of his life, and Lambaréné becomes the setting for an existential confrontation over the foundations of our world.
SCHWEITZER was produced as a co-production between Salinas Filmgesellschaft and Two Oceans Production, with the participation of ARD Degeto and support from arte. It received funding from Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmförderungsanstalt, Hessen Invest, Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, and Deutscher Filmförderfonds. In autumn 2009, the NFP* team behind LUTHER, with Christoph Ott as head of campaign, was scheduled to bring the film to German cinemas.
