Peter Greste’s Ordeal Brought to Life in ‘The Correspondent’

The Correspondent, a 2024 Australian biographical legal thriller directed by Kriv Stenders and written by Peter Duncan, dramatizes the harrowing experience of journalist Peter Greste, who was unjustly imprisoned in Egypt for 400 days on terrorism charges while reporting for Al Jazeera during the Arab Spring.

The film stars Richard Roxburgh as Greste, delivering a restrained yet powerful performance that captures the psychological trauma and resilience of a journalist caught in a Kafkaesque legal nightmare. The narrative focuses on Greste’s arrest in Cairo, his subsequent trial, and the international efforts that eventually led to his release in 2015.

Greste’s memoir, The First Casualty, serves as the basis for the screenplay. The film premiered at the 2024 Adelaide Film Festival and was released in Australian cinemas on April 17, 2025.

In interviews, Greste has expressed the surreal experience of watching his ordeal portrayed on screen, noting the film’s accuracy in depicting the confusion of his arrest, the claustrophobia of confinement, and the chaos of the trial.

The Correspondent has been praised for its timely exploration of press freedom and the personal costs of journalism under authoritarian regimes. The film’s release coincides with ongoing global discussions about the safety of journalists and the importance of a free press.