Boris Herrmann's Vendée Globe adventure as a feature film by Ben Blaskovic
by Team Malizia 18 Mar 2023 21:14 AEDT
Boris Herrmann at the arrival of the Vendée Globe 2020-2021 © Martin Kéruzoré
Boris Herrmann is the first German to have competed in the Vendée Globe, the most famous and toughest race in the world. After a fantastic race, he finished in a barely dreamed-of fifth place with his race yacht. In the book "Alone Between Sky and Sea", written with Andreas Wolfers, he describes his experiences and emotions, the battle with nature and the struggle with himself during the 80 days alone on the sea.
Like many readers of the best-selling German sports book in the past ten years, German actor and producer Ben Blaskovic was fascinated by the adventures of the extreme sailor. He devoured the book within three days and knew immediately that he wanted to film this story and bring it to the big screen. This dream is now becoming a reality: Ben Blaskovic will be filming Boris Herrmann's biopic.
Ben Blaskovic explains: "I have been a passionate sailor myself since childhood, which is why I am particularly pleased to be able to film Boris Herrmann's heroic journey during the Vendée Globe as a fictional feature film. Andreas Wolfers has created a wonderful basis for this, which the outstanding screenwriter Gernot Griksch has turned into an exciting script. The result is a film that makes Boris' outer and, above all, inner journey tangible even for non-sailors and will give viewers - amid all the negative 'noise' in the world - a lasting, positive and strong message to take with them."
"I am really looking forward to this project!", says Boris Herrmann. "I'm more used to documentaries about our team, but I'm very excited to relive my first Vendée Globe race as a feature film. Ben and I finally met in person in Cape Town, at the start of Leg 3 of The Ocean Race, which I am currently competing in with our Team Malizia. It was a perfect opportunity for Ben to witness the emotions our team goes through before a race start, as this leg takes us through the Southern Ocean on an almost identical route as the Vendée Globe. During the stopover, Ben even sailed in the In-Port Race on our Malizia - Seaexplorer race yacht and got to experience what it's like to sail against the best sailors of the IMOCA class."
Co-author Andreas Wolfers adds: "Boris and I described his adventurous race around the world as precisely and authentically as possible. Our motto for the book was to make the story as visual as possible in the mind, like they play a film in their own minds. How great that it will soon be turned into a real-life film!"