Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan) and J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) have signed on to produce a film based on the real-life story of Syrian refugee Doaa Al Zamed, according to The Wrap. The film will be based on the book A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival by Melissa Fleming. Paramount Pictures and Amblin Partners acquired the rights to the book about Al Zamed, who, at 19, left her war-torn homeland for Egypt, right before the government was overthrown. She set off for Europe and a better life, but the voyage took a dark turn. She had to survive for days with two toddlers given to her by other refugees in an inflatable water ring.
Fleming is the chief spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and researched Al Zamel’s story for the book. “A Hope More Powerful than the Sea” was released in January. Here’s the official description:
“Adrift in a frigid sea, no land in sight―just debris from the ship’s wreckage and floating corpses all around―nineteen-year-old Doaa Al Zamel floats with a small inflatable water ring around her waist and clutches two children, barely toddlers, to her body. The children had been thrust into Doaa’s arms by their drowning relatives, all refugees who boarded a dangerously overcrowded ship bound for Sweden and a new life. For days, Doaa floats, prays, and sings to the babies in her arms. She must stay alive for these children. She must not lose hope.”
There are no cast members as of yet and no director attached to the film. Are you interested a Syrian refugee story? Who would you like to see as Al Zamed? Let us know in the comments.
