A captain's order. A sailor's fall. A port that won't let him leave alive.
Ahti Ikonen is a reliable captain at the height of his career. He is in command of the 35,000-ton container vessel Brugge, which enters the port of Savannah/United States behind schedule. The loading of the ship commences in haste as the crew, led by the ambitious Romanian officer Katia, works by the piece so that they can sail in time. The Filipino seaman James has an accident during this semi- legal lashing procedure. Ahti has to face the consequences of his orders: In the port of Rotterdam/Netherlands unionized dockworkers exploit the incident and refuse to unload the ship. Standstill. The captain is caught between the frontlines. Ahti is keen to elucidate the accident, but the situation becomes more and more contradictory…
Acting
Tommi Korpela's crumbling stoicism carries every frame
Direction
Koenzen traps you in institutional machinery, no escape hatches
Production
Authentic container ship becomes character itself
Director
Axel Koenzen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot on a working container vessel with actual crew as extras; Koenzen wanted the smell of diesel and institutional rot to permeate every frame.
Based on real 2012 incident where dockworkers in Antwerp refused to unload ship after Filipino seaman's fatal accident—film changes location but keeps the ethical architecture intact.
US
