It was September 2020, my last movie had just celebrated its Premiere, the COVID pandemic was still ongoing and under those circumstances I saw a window of opportunity to hone my craft. I had just acquired a new instrument called GuitarViol (which is a Guitar formatted Viola/Cello hybrid) and I was beginning to learn its ins and outs. My beginner technique made it sound sometimes very out of tune but sometimes only slightly dissonant and that sound would become essential for the dramatic tension of my upcoming project.

One day while I was finalizing the score for the film “Faking Bullshit”, my fellow director Adolfo came by the studio and mentioned the possibility of working together on “LIBERAME – Nach dem Sturm”. The project was then called “Safe Harbour”, name that was adopted from the original Australian series. The German remake would take on a whole different meaning when Adolfo, together with scriptwriters Astrid Ströher and Marco Wiersch, adapted the script. They introduced the reality lived in the northern hemisphere by the refugees that travel miles and miles across the Mediterranean Sea looking for a safe life in Europe away from war, injustice, extreme poverty and famine. Contrary to the original scripts, this adaptation aimed to put the viewer out with the difficult decisions the characters were confronted with. What would you do if you would find yourself in the situation of the German protagonists? How would you help if you know that legally you’re an accomplice by bringing the refugees back to Italy with you? How would you react when you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place?

The chance of working together with Adolfo again, to help him bring his vision to life, to be confronted myself with these questions and having to think about how to translate them into music was a wonderful challenge I was eager to take on. As we had already done for earlier projects, we agreed that I would start pre-producing the music before the shoot began. That way he could use it as an inspiration to evoke specific emotions in the actors while shooting. Between September 2020 and February 2021 I had produced almost 2 hours of music. Little did I know that this musical universe of bowed strings, thematic melodies, dramatic pianos, and synthesized arpeggios was still under construction!

Being that it was my first time doing a six-part series and that this job entailed a lot of work and new responsibilities, we talked about the possibility of bringing someone else on board. So it was that in February 2021 we had our first meeting with Tim Schwerdter, who would shortly after join the team. With his talent, skills, humility and professionality, Tim helped bring this musical universe to a whole new level. Even though we had both played in bands before, this was our first time collaborating with another composer. We had no idea how that would work… and that was the beauty of it. We learned by doing. The most important thing we did right at the beginning was setting boundaries, clear goals and acknowledging that the project came first. This sort of clarity and transparency made it easier for us to meet each other halfway and create a common musical identity. The more we worked together the better we understood each other’s creative process and how we felt about the music. When we would do something we’d liked there would be a sense of satisfaction in the air. At the same time if there was something we didn’t agree on, we would state our points and try to find a common ground.