knowingly or unknowingly, Anna Wing He consistently crafts series that mirror the present by threading it through moments of history. The drama set in Germany during a pivotal era stands as a prime example, created with his wife, Jörg, amid the tensions of the Cold War. The creators explained in an interview with this newspaper that the series emerged as geopolitical lines shifted again, with Crimea’s annexation reigniting old divides between Russia and the West and reshaping the narrative landscape of the 1990s.
Before the premiere of Unconventional, an adaptation inspired by Deborah Feldman’s memoir of faith and revolt, our interview unfolded with an eye toward what the show would ultimately reveal. Transatlantic, streaming on Netflix, arrives on a Friday and follows the exploits of Varian Fry, the American literary journalist who reached Marseille in the mid-1940s and led the Emergency Rescue Committee. This organization worked tirelessly to help those persecuted by the Nazis and collaborators escape to safety. Among the rescued were artists and writers, including notable figures such as Max Ernst and Hannah Arendt, whose stories have since captured the public imagination.
Wing He has spent two decades in Berlin, yet he remains American by birth. He grew up with anthropologist parents and shares the experience of many colleagues who arrived in the country as refugees during the Second World War, with some aided personally by Fry. The writer-producer, who once pursued photography, revisited these historical threads during the 2015 European refugee crisis. The adage attributed to Mark Twain—History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes—serves as a quiet refrain throughout the work. The series presents displaced and stateless people in conflict zones, cycle after cycle, a pattern that repeats across wars. Filming began amid new tensions in Marseille for Transatlantic, and the team faced the unsettling reality that a fresh conflict could unfold during production. The creators acknowledge the irony of building a refugee-centered narrative while a real crisis erupted in Europe. The inspiration came from a past crisis, yet the filming timeline was affected by unfolding events that felt almost prophetic.
many layers of fiction
Contemplating how to preserve the memory of these threads, Wing He learned of Julie Orringer’s The Flight Portfolio, a work that provided a strong contextual backbone and cognitive scaffolding for the psychological portrayal of Fry, here depicted as a gay man. The episode in question leans on factual elements, yet it remains a highly fictionalized retelling tethered to another narrative, itself already imbued with fiction. This distinction helps temper expectations and signals to viewers that the series is a crafted interpretation rather than a literal documentary.
Far from presenting a solemn documentary drama, Transatlantic blends drama, comedy, and romance into a lively, human-centered tapestry. The cast includes Mary Jayne Gold, a wealthy Chicago heir whose philanthropy shapes much of the plot, and Albert O. Hirschman, the German-Jewish intellectual whose intellectual and financial sway left a mark on the era. The production team has spoken about drawing on a certain strand of Hollywood filmmaking, especially the wartime exile cinema created by European screenwriters. Classic titles like To Be or Not to Be or Casablanca offered templates where humor, romance, and resilience helped characters cope with the bleakness of the times. These cinematic echoes inform the tone of Transatlantic, lending warmth to moments of tragedy and upheaval.
The co-creator of Transatlantic, collaborating closely with Daniel Hendler, sought to weave light moments into the darkest hours. They aimed to remind viewers of their shared humanity, even amid crisis. Humor, creativity, friendship, and romance are portrayed as forces that illuminate the shadows, providing a sense of vitality when circumstances feel overwhelming. The creative team believes these elements can anchor audiences through episodes that traverse fear, loss, and endurance, offering a narrative that is not merely about survival but about the stubborn persistence of human connection.