How a sea rescue can take place is beyond imagination. The real-time documentation
“One Hundred and Four” brings this dramatic situation closer. The film shows how agonisingly long it takes to rescue 104 people from a sinking rubber dinghy. Person by person, step by step, the action is accompanied by several parallel cameras. The situation comes to a head when the Libyan coastguard appears. The rescued people and the crew wait for days on the high seas, as no Mediterranean country allows them to dock. Only after a terrible storm does the ship reach a European harbour.
CAST
Crew of the rescue ship ELEONORE: Claus-Peter Reisch (captain), Martin Ernst (1st officer (RHIB driver), Thorsten Smikalla (2nd officer), Gerald Karl (3rd officer / deck manager), Clara Richter (cultural mediator / cook), Georg Albiez (ship’s doctor), Kostis Plevris (RHIB communications)
CREW
Director: Jonathan Schörnig
Script: Adrian Then, Jonathan Schörnig
Cinematography: Jonathan Schörnig, Johannes Filous
Editing: Jonathan Schörnig
Production: Uwe Nitschke, Adrian Then
Cinema distribution and World Sales: UCM.ONE GmbH
Website: www.ucm.one/de/einhundertvier
JONATHAN SCHÖRNIG – director and author
Jonathan Schörnig was born in Leipzig in 1991.
After graduating from high school in 2011, he began to gain directing experience through several assistantships and internships in television and film.
In 2015, he successfully completed his training as an image/sound media designer with his graduation film “Mr Lindner and his garden” and won the FineX trainee award.
He then worked as a cameraman on various television formats and documentaries. In 2020, he achieved his first successful festival release with the short documentary “Never give up”.
Jonathan Schörnig has been studying at the Bauhaus University in Weimar since 2021.
With EINHUNDERTVIER, Jonathan Schörnig won the Golden Dove at the 66th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film as well as the Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Prize, the ver.di Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness and the Leipziger Ring Film Prize.
How did the film come about?
I travelled on this rescue mission as a journalist in 2019. The footage I shot was also used to produce several reports for MDR and I realised afterwards that I hadn’t quite finished with the topic yet and that the raw footage had a lot more to offer. Whenever I watched excerpts from the raw material, I realised that I was staying with it for a very long time and that I found this rescue operation itself exciting.
When a rescue like this is shown, it is always heavily compressed by the editing. I thought this was the best way to show the whole thing, uncut. So that the viewer can experience and understand it. We were only able to view the material properly by editing in tile mode and noticed in the edit how the tension is carried through the film.
I think that people who have seen the film also get a bit of a feel for what it’s like to be involved in a rescue operation like this.
Why did you set up and install six cameras?
I knew that I wouldn’t have many opportunities to adequately document all the situations during the rescue. That’s why, together with Johann’s Filous, I thought about where we could install cameras so that we wouldn’t miss anything. It was also important for me to document what was happening on the bridge. Johannes was in the speedboat and I stayed on board. Together with the other cameras, we had a very good overview.
How did you fare on board?
You are part of the process the whole time and it is difficult to be a neutral observer. For Johannes and me as journalists on board, it wasn’t easy to concentrate on the documentation.
We are part of the whole and we eat and sleep on the same ship, but we still have a duty of neutrality.
Because there were so few crew members and only nine instead of twelve, we had to subordinate ourselves to the ship’s daily routine like everyone else.
The question that was on my mind shortly before setting off for the SAR zone was: What happens if someone drowns in front of me? Do I film or do I intervene and try to save them? I hadn’t made a clear decision beforehand, but I had a feeling that if something like that happened, I would intervene in the situation and leave my observer position.
What was the atmosphere like among the crew?
Not always harmonious. I think the main problem is that the hierarchy on the high seas is not always in line with the ideas of a civil society-organised NGO (non-governmental organisation).
We didn’t have much time to get to know each other as a crew and to familiarise ourselves with the procedures at sea, especially as most of the crew were at sea for the first time. But in the crucial moments, everyone pulled together.
What memories do you have of the rescued?
There were a few that have stayed with me. For example, Fahad, who became a kind of spokesman for the group and always presented solutions to us when there were problems. In general, we were very lucky with the rescued people. Although they came from different countries and didn’t know each other, they were all very disciplined and patient.
We had a day when we wanted to play various board games together that we had on board. After a few minutes, I noticed that there was some unrest in one group and playing cards were being thrown overboard. After Gerald Karl (deck manager) calmed the situation down, we put Fahad in charge and left the deck as a crew. After a 5-minute discussion among ourselves, Fahad came to us with all the packs and said that because it hadn’t worked out, they had decided that they didn’t want to play any more and handed Gerald the neatly packed packs.
What was the mood like after the rescue?
Immediately after the rescue, everyone was very euphoric. However, the adrenalin only subsided when the Libyan coastguard stopped chasing us. Firstly, everyone was given water and Georg Albiez (the ship’s doctor) looked after the very weak cases. The next day there was a “consultation hour” where all the rescued people came to see the doctor and injuries were documented and wounds treated.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the lifeboat we were looking for.
CHRONOLOGY OF PREHISTORY
2019
The ship is purchased by the MISSION LIFELINE International e.V. organisation. At the time, the “Eleonore” was called the “Western Star” and had to be extensively prepared and converted for the rescue. She was originally a Dutch fishing trawler.
July 2019
Jonathan Schörnig agrees to document the rescue in order to produce film material for public broadcasting.
02.08.2019
Jonathan Schörnig and Johannes Filous travelling to Spain as representatives of the press.
The conversion work at the shipyard near Barcelona is delayed. At the same time, the “Eleonore” is registered in Germany under the German flag by Captain Claus-Peter Reisch.
07.08.2019
The “Eleonore” is launched into the water.
09.08.2019
Captain Claus-Peter Reisch flies to Spain with the registration documents. Construction work on the Eleonore continues to be delayed.
16.08.2019
The ship is christened “Eleonore”.
17.08.2019
The “Eleonore” departs with a crew of 9 for the crossing and test voyage to Cagliari/Italy.
20.08.2019
Arrival in the harbour of Cagliari. Final repairs are carried out.
21.08.2019
Departure for the SAR (Search and Rescue) zone at 9.20 pm. The 9-strong Eleonore crew takes off, including the two press representatives.
24.08.2019
Reaching the SAR zone, start of the search, rescue exercise
25.08.2019
At 9.30 a.m., Clara Richter discovers an empty green inflatable boat with only one intact air chamber. No sign of a rescue could be found, so the crew assumes there are no survivors.
25.08.2019
Emergency call via NGO “Alarmphone” of an inflatable boat. The “Eleonore” immediately initiates the search and sets course for the indicated position. The search during the night remains unsuccessful.
26.08.2019
Another distress call from a white inflatable boat is reported by “Alarmphone”. It is said to be a boat with 64 people, including 53 men and 11 women. Children were reported in another boat. The speedboat crew of the “Lifeline 3” therefore prepares to rescue children.
12:59 pm
The live documentation with six cameras begins. On the way to the indicated position, the crew comes across the blue inflatable boat with 104 men.
FESTIVAL & AWARDS
Golden Dove Feature Film
It takes an infinitely long time to rescue 104 people from a boat sinking in the Mediterranean. We experience this rescue in real time, simultaneously on six split screens. The film team and the crew of the rescue ship clearly show us what it means to look away every day. But they also show that help is possible and necessary.
Documentary film prize of the Goethe-Institut
In “One Hundred and Four”, a sea rescue of refugees in the Mediterranean is meticulously documented. With his consistent approach of filming 90 minutes with several cameras in parallel, director Jonathan Schörnig allows us to experience the action up close, creating a deep understanding of the urgency of the humanitarian mission.
An appeal to world politics, but also to us!
ver.di award for solidarity, humanity and fairness
We experience a special rescue operation – conveyed with classic documentary means, as permitted by today’s technology. We are very close to the people in this scene in real time and are at the mercy of the natural dramaturgy.
As we know, this is only the first act of a human drama with an uncertain outcome. The film makes it possible to understand the dimensions of this everyday tragedy in the Mediterranean.
Leipzig Ring Film Prize
For an outstanding documentary film about human rights, democracy or civic engagement, donated by the Leipzig Peaceful Revolution Foundation.
It’s all True – Award – International Competition
29th International Documentary Film Festival São Paolo, Brazil
The prize goes to One Hundred Four, a film which looks at one of the most important issues of our times – migration – in a compelling, raw and adrenalinised new way. As it unfolds in real time, we realise that this film should be seen everywhere.