Hande Erçel to Lead Nadar Saeivar's Berlin Drama Diaspora

Hande Erçel will lead Diaspora, a new Germany-set drama from director Nadar Saeivar, Deadline reported on 8 October.

Erçel plays Merve, an educated, middle-class Turkish woman rebuilding her life in Germany with her 12-year-old son after her husband's death in Turkey, according to the same report. Moritz Bleibtreu co-stars as the father of the German family at the centre of the story.

Filming starts in early 2027. The production will shoot entirely in Berlin and will be made in three languages: German, English and Turkish.

The plot follows Merve as she takes work in a language school run by a German family expecting their second child. Their 15-year-old son is named Luca. Bleibtreu plays the family's father.

Diaspora is jointly produced by Said Nur Akkus at Berlin-based Arthood Films and Emre Oskay at Istanbul-based Sky Films, Deadline reported. Erçel is expected in Berlin about a month before cameras roll for character work, language training and rehearsals with the creative team.

Saeivar's recent directing credits include No End (2022), The Witness (2024) and Hijamat (2026). He shared an Original Screenplay Oscar nomination with Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident, which won the Palme d'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Saeivar is an Iranian director now based in Berlin, having left Iran for Germany in the middle of the shoot for Accident, The Hollywood Reporter reported in July. His latest feature, Hijamat, was his fourth film and his first made fully outside Iran, and it premiered at Karlovy Vary. That film stars Kida Khodr Ramadan as 50-year-old Murad and explores identity, sexuality and faith.

What makes this stand out for viewers is the mix. A Turkish star, a German co-star and a three-language script, all filmed in one city.