X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

The Captain and His Pirate

In 2009, the German container ship "Hansa Stavangar" had been seized by Somali pirates for four months. After its release, magazine covers showed a captain happy to have escaped the barbarian terror. This film shows the deeper layers, the invisible story behind the headlines, recounted from two protagonists' points of view: The pirate leader, Ahado, an eloquent, intelligent young man, and the captain, Krysztof Kotiuk. The former, who grew up amidst mortar shelling in Mogadishu, expecting to die at any moment, has nothing to lose. The latter will be left with nothing in the end. When weeks pass with no help from Germany, the captain decides to approach the opponent in a desperate attempt to save his crew. When both crew and company turn their backs on him, Ahado becomes his only confidant. Step by step the tragedy of two people is revealed - the pirate and the captain are destined to be enemies in a war that we're all a part of. Yet, they grow to form a close bond in the end. What's left when the roles we play, all moral categories and certainties implode? When you slide from a position of strength to one with no way out? And what is it like for those who have no choice in the first place? A psychological drama that addresses existential questions of war and human understanding.

Loading. Please wait...

Content not available in your region? ExpressVPN can help you stay connected wherever you are. Get 4 extra months FREE with TV Guide's exclusive offer.

Cast & Crew See All

Ahado
Self
Klaus Hartmann
Self
Krzysztof Kotiuk
Self

Awards

  • 2012 - Prize of the Youth Jury - - winner
  • 2013 - Award of the DEFA Foundation - - winner
  • 2013 - Documentary Talent Award - - winner
  • 2013 - Vaclav Havel Special Award - - nominated

You May Also Like See All

Three Colors: Red
The Godfather
Casablanca
Rear Window

Popular Movies See all movies

If Someone Had Known

1 hr 20 mins
Katie marries her first boy friend and at first they are very happy together. But when their first son arrives he becomes nasty being jealous about the boy, beating her and hanging around with friends all day leaving all the work to her. When their second child is on its way things get even worse, so that Katie decides to leave the house; but when she packs her suitcase the conflict climaxes to him getting shot. A trial is about to find out what happened...
1995 Documentary, Drama

Cutting Through Rocks

1 hr 35 mins
As the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages. When accusations arise questioning Sara's intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil.
80   Metascore
2025 Documentary, Family

Tombstone

2 hr 10 mins
In 1879, Wyatt Earp and his family arrive in the violent town of Tombstone with the intention of running a bar. But Earp is elected sheriff of the place and will have to face the Clantons, a gang that intends to dominate the town.
50   Metascore
1993 Documentary, Drama, Action & Adventure

Amish Stud: The Eli Weaver Story

1 hr 25 mins
While he's out fishing with his Mennonite friend Jeremiah Peters on the morning of 2 June, Amish Eli Weaver receives a message via a call to Jeremiah's cell phone that Eli's wife, 29-year-old Barbara Weaver, has been found shot dead in their bed. While the Amish elders want to deal with the issue solely within their community, the Wayne County Sheriff's Department is forced to investigate in the murder having taken place in their jurisdiction, the two investigators being Detectives Bruce London and Mike Maxwell. What is subsequently shown is the current investigation interspersed with flashbacks of Eli and Barbara's life, which Eli admits to the investigators was not always perfect. Those flashbacks show that prior to their marriage, Barbara wanted to marry for romantic love, which is not the Amish way. Eli seemingly wanted the same; he was the black sheep of his family in not always adhering to Amish strictures. London and Maxwell have their theories of who the murderer is; they suspect Eli, who isn't reacting like a typical grieving husband and father, but they know they'll have problems finding evidence because the Amish Eli will have no digital footprint; and the community's sole telephone is a public one for emergencies, usable by anyone. They hope that the unofficial traditional Amish communication network, rampant gossip, will provide some clues. They find that some talk emerges in the form of a collection of women not in the community who were a part of Eli's secret life as the Amish Stud.
2023 Documentary, Suspense, Drama

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

1 hr 59 mins
Bruce Springsteen's journey crafting his 1982 album Nebraska, which emerged as he recorded Born in the USA with the E Street Band. Based on Warren Zanes' book.
59   Metascore
2025 Documentary, Drama, Music

Bridge of Spies

2 hr 22 mins
In 1957, lawyer James B. Donovan is recruited from his prestigious law firm to defend accused Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. It's an unenviable task in many respects. Donovan hasn't practiced criminal law since he was a prosecutor at the Nuremburg trials after World War II. Also, the strong anti-Communist mood at the time makes him a target from who think Abel should just be executed. Abel is convicted but Donovan convinces the judge to sentence him to prison, rather than execute him, as they may at some point in the future want to swap him for an American spy the Soviets might have in custody. Just such a scenario comes into play when in 1960 U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down over Soviet territory and taken prisoner. Donovan is again recruited to act as the intermediary and negotiate swapping Able for the American requiring him to travel to East Berlin crossing the newly built Berlin Wall.
81   Metascore
2015 Drama, Documentary, Suspense, Action & Adventure