The heroes from customs: the new "Bremerhaven crime thriller"

ARD - The heroes from customs: the new "Bremerhaven crime thriller"

It's a dark world. It's about drugs, violence and lots of money. The criminals in the new"Bremerhaven crime thriller" are mainly out and about at night. They pick up parcels of cocaine from the port city's container terminal. Their bosses are tough and brutal. Anyone who doesn't meet their expectations lives dangerously. Getting out is risky. Soon shots are fired.

All of this poses major challenges for customs. A small, ambitious team tries to stop the drug trade. The new crime drama format on Ersten tells the story with the case "Tödliche Fracht" at 8.15 pm.

Investigators find themselves in danger

During their investigations, control expert Katta Strüwer (Elena Uhlig), investigator Gero von Bernbeck (Bernd Hölscher), customs expert Lisa Cunningham (Cynthia Micas) and IT forensic expert Sven-Erik Dröse (Lukas Zumbrock) face a number of setbacks. Then Cunningham recognizes Dmitri (played by Bogdan Iancu), a young man living illegally in Germany, as part of the drug network - the team has a hot lead. However, the investigators are now also in danger - it's a matter of life and death.

"The film should definitely be extremely entertaining and draw you into a world that you rarely get to see," says director Nicolai Rohde in an interview with the German Press Agency. The Bremen-born director is impressed by the filming. "I've never been to a port area like this before, it was phenomenal. It was the first time I'd been there at night. The container port was like a spaceship."

Focus on the port

The shots of the port characterize the film. During the day it is a colorful, at night a dark and dangerous labyrinth of moving containers. "For me, the port area is very rugged and very forbidding and very hard. The architecture is like the landscape of our protagonists' souls," says Rohde, referring to the character Dmitri. "He is fighting for bare survival." Rohde was particularly impressed by the performance of actor Bogdan Iancu. "It's great how he carries the vulnerability, anger and intelligence," says the director.

Actress Cynthia Micas, who plays customs officer Cunningham, also has fond memories of filming in November and December 2022. "I found it incredibly fascinating to be able to film in the port," she says in the dpa interview. "You feel like a little ant," she says, looking at the large area and the many people working on the port site.

The actress was also impressed by the work of customs. "My respect for the people who work at customs has grown immensely," she says about the dangers that investigators expose themselves to in order to track down criminals. "I was most impressed by the huge machinery and the systems they use to find out what cargo is actually in the containers."

The customs officers in the film are smart, ambitious and sometimes overwhelmed. "All four of them in the cast are very authentic," says the director, describing the team. "They are very human in the way they treat each other," says Rohde. Viewers only get a glimpse into the private lives of the four. "You go out and want to get to know the team even better," says actress Micas.

Director Rohde hopes that there will be a sequel. "We're currently planning the second book," he says, pointing out that patience is required first. Whether a second customs thriller will be made also depends on the ratings of the first one.