Polish director-producer Heathcliff Janusz Iwanowski is making his English-language debut with “Ocean on Fire,” a nautical thriller written by original “Point Break” scribe W. Peter Iliff and executive produced by Ali Tabrizi, the British director behind the Netflix documentary “Seaspiracy.”
In “Ocean on Fire,” Jack, a former commando, sets out to find his father, an idealistic, independent observer on large fishing trawlers who disappears during a voyage. The crew reports it as an accident, but Jack doesn’t buy it and instead begins his own investigation.
With the help of a journalist, he uncovers a web of corruption that entangles politicians, lobbyists, drug cartels and mafia bosses around the world that exploit maritime routes for slavery, arms and drug trafficking.
The $40 million production is set to shoot at Pinewood Studios Dominican Republic and Caribbean locations later this year.
In making “Ocean on Fire,” Iwanowski was inspired by “Seaspiracy,” which examines the dire impact of commercial fishing on the ocean.
“The idea of bridging the gap between the education factor of documentary and the entertainment factor of narrative movies to tell the untold stories of the ocean is going to be incredible,” Tabrizi says in the video below.
Producing “Ocean on Fire” is Jolanta Iwanowska, Iwanowski’s regular producer, with Michael Roesch, Tabrizi and Iliff executive producing.
Also on board are DP Manuel Castañeda (“Kill Chain”) and line producer Vanessa Iwanowski.
Germany’s Kinostar is handling worldwide sales.
Iwanowski’s recent works include the hit 1980s-set comedy-drama “Where the Devil Can’t Go, He Sends a Woman” that spawned a sequel and the 2023 Netflix series “How to Become Crazy Rich in Eastern Europe” and centers on a group of entrepreneurs exploiting the end of communism and rise of capitalism to amass a fortune.
He also produced and co-wrote Michal Wegrzyn’s 2022 portrait of communist leader Edward Gierek, who led Poland from 1970 to 1980.
