Exclusion Zone

Please see my 93 page script, 'Das Sperrgebiet' for the full screenplay. Think, a modern times version of the 1968 movie - A Twist of Sand (which was set in the late 50s). An old lag, Joe White (think Michael Caine), late 80s, leaves prison, having wasted the second half of his life following a distinguished military career. Ostracized by what remains of his family, he moves into a dilapidated boat in Shepperton Marina, on the London/Surrey borders. His life changes the day a stowaway falls from the lowered undercarriage of an aircraft on final approach to Heathrow airport. The dead youth has travelled from the subcontinent with hidden contraband. Its discovery triggers a light bulb moment for White. For years he's known of the whereabouts of a kilo of uncut sea diamonds hidden within the rusted remains of a shipwreck, beached on the Skeleton Coast in south west Africa. Alas, the location of the diamonds are within a strictly controlled exclusion zone, Das Sperrgebiet. That region of the world is controlled jointly by De Beers, the diamond mining company and the Namibian government. Trespassers, if caught, risk a lengthy prison sentence. However, White now has the means to hire a professional to get him there covertly, and more importantly, whisk him away once the cache has been recovered. If he can pull the caper off, his estranged family will be provided for long after his death.