Halifax’s Auguste Content has gone to camera on a Canada/Switzerland coproduction about the 1998 Swissair Flight 111 plane crash in Nova Scotia.

Principal photography on 111 began in Halifax on Sept. 18, with additional filming planned in Zurich and surrounding areas in October.

Co-written and directed by Swiss-Mexican filmmaker Mauro Mueller, 111 follows the lives of various characters who were affected by the real-life tragedy, which led to the deaths of 229 passengers and crew members on Sept. 2, 1998. Mueller co-write the script with U.S. screenwriter Jennie Allen.

The feature is a coproduction between Auguste Content’s Ann Bernier and Anne Walser of Zurich-based C-Films AG. Mueller’s Swiss production banner Fidelio films is also attached to produce the film, as well as producer Björn Hering.

Elevation Pictures is handling the Canadian theatrical release, with Ascot Elite Entertainment Group tackling the theatrical release in Switzerland. Munich-based Global Screen, a subsidiary of Vuelta Group, is handling world sales.

The cast includes Canadian actors Kris Holden-Ried (Departure) and Natalie Brown (The Strain), and Swiss actor Ursina Lardi (Lore).

Funding for 111 has been provided through Telefilm Canada, the Nova Scotia Film and Television Incentive Fund, the Screen Nova Scotia Content Creator Fund, Schweizer Fernsehen SRF, the Zurich Film Foundation, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Culture and Suissimage.

“The Swissair 111 tragedy not only moved Nova Scotians into mourning, it brought Canada, Switzerland and the world together as we united in the face of the unthinkable,” said Bernier in a statement. “111 is our opportunity to remember this important moment, not only in Canadian history, but in a history that crosses the ocean.”

Walser added: “111 is ‘glocal’ in the truest sense of the word – locally rooted and yet global. We are telling a Swiss tragedy in which more than two dozen nations were involved and which turned countless people’s lives upside down.”

Image courtesy of Auguste Content