None-more-prolific Australian director Kriv Stenders (Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, Red Dog etc) directs Richard Roxburgh in this harrowing account of journo Peter Greste’s ordeal after being imprisoned in Egypt on charges of aiding and abetting the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation recently labeled terrorists by the new Egyptian regime of the time.
How to watch The Correspondent in New Zealand
The Correspondent hits New Zealand cinemas on April 17, 2025.
What is The Correspondent about?
Well, we’ve covered the broad strokes already, and the full factual details are a Wikipedia click away. But in the shell of a nut, Stenders’ film, adapted by screenwriter Peter Duncan from Greste’s own 2017 account, The First Casualty, sees Greste and two Al Jazeera colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, siezed by Egyptian security forces and charged with spreading false news that was deemed “damaging to national security” and aiding the recently deposed Muslim Brotherhood.
From their we follow their travails in prison, along with diplomatic efforts to free them, and occasional flashbacks to Greste’s experiences in Mogadishu, Somalia, circa 2005. Expect a tense, ripped-from-the-headlines political drama, we reckon, anchored by the ever-reliable Roxburgh.
The cast of The Correspondent
Richard Roxburgh is Peter Greste; Julian Maroun is Mohamed Fahmy; Rahel Romahn is Baher Mohamed; Yael Stone is BBC reporter Kaye Peyton, Greste’s colleague in Somalia; while Mojean Aria, Nic Cassim, Majid Shokor, Josh McConville, and Hazem Shammas round out the ensemble.
The Correspondent trailer
Why we’re excited about The Correspondent
With Stenders’ steady hand on the tiller, Roxburgh’s solid presence front and centre, and an enthralling true story underpinning the whole affair, this strikes as the kind of enthralling adult drama we keep saying doesn’t get made any more. Early reviews from the festival circuit have certainly been encouraging, and while it might fall short of, say, Midnight Express, The Correspondent looks like a winner to us.
