German actor Malick Bauer will star as the eponymous Sam — a Saxon in the new German-language original series from Disney+.
The drama series, from the creators of Deutschland 89, is based on the real-life story of Samuel Meffire, East Germany’s first Black policeman. Growing up an outsider, Sam is compelled to join the police force after his father’s murder and rises to become, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a symbol of modern society in the post-reunification Germany of the 1990s. But just a few years later, Sam ends up behind bars himself, as an enemy of the state.
Deutschland 89 producer Jörg Winger is producing the series through his Big Window Productions, together with Tyron Ricketts for Panthertainment.
Starring alongside Bauer in the seven-episode miniseries are Ricketts, who plays Sam’s mentor Alex, Svenja Jung, Luise von Finckh, Nyamandi Adrian, Paula Essam, Ivy Quainoo, Thorsten Merten, Martin Brambach, Aristo Luis and Daniel Klare.
“Since Tyron told me the true story of Sam Meffire 15 years ago, it has never let me go,” said Winger. “It is one of those rare stories that never cease to fascinate — no matter from which perspective you look at it: as an emotional thriller, as the drama of a lost son, as a commentary on the wild years of East Germany in the early 1990s. Sam’s story is highly emotional, captivating, unfathomable and hopeful. It is locally set but globally understandable. And it gives us an insight into a Black German’s search for his identity.”
The seven-part Disney+ original miniseries began shooting in Germany in January and is set to film until the end of May under the direction of lead director Soleen Yusef and director Sarah Blasskiewitz.
Sam — a Saxon is part of the Disney+ slate of non-English language originals being produced out of Europe, part of the streamer’s push into the European market. Other Disney+ European originals include the French miniseries Oussekine, Italy’s The Ignorant Angels and the Dutch sports documentary Feyenoord Rotterdam.
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