Scriptwriters Johannes W. Betz and Martin Pristl tell the moving, suspenseful tale of a great love story and a gripping adventure against a historical backdrop; Philipp Kadelbach is the director. The drama of the Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg, an engineering masterpiece, burned itself into human memory as one of the biggest technology disasters of the 20th century. 35 people lost their lives in the inferno. Anyone who sees the original footage of the disaster will find it hard to believe that 62 of the 97 people on board survived. The destruction of the Hindenburg put an end to zeppelins being used for air travel, and the reasons behind the tragedy have not been fully cleared up to this day.
CGI experts will create unprecedented scenes and images involving the biggest aircraft ever built and of its explosion. Under the 40-meter high ceiling of the Cologne MMC studio, a cross-section of the zeppelin will be reconstructed, including the promenade deck, passenger cabins, bridge and other sections. The film is being produced with a record budget exceeding 10 million EUR. The producers have managed to recruit an unmatched line-up of German stars for the lavish project. The shooting, in Cologne, Nuremberg and environs, will continue through the middle of December.
The English version of the script was written by Philipp LaZebnik. Hindenburg is a Teamworx production, co-produced with RTL Television and EOS Entertainment (Jan Mojto), and sponsored by the Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalian Film Foundation) and the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (Bavarian Film & TV Fund). It is scheduled for broadcast in spring 2011.