Fleeing her country in 2015 during the Syrian civil war with her sister, Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini, they pulled their boat with other refugees towards the Mediterranean coast of Greece, saving themselves and the other passengers.

[2] After the sisters had been granted political asylum in Germany, Sarah Mardini joined a non-governmental organization to help refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Along with human rights activist Seán Binder, she was arrested in 2018 and accused by Greek authorities of espionage, aiding illegal immigration and belonging to a criminal organization.

These charges have been refuted by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, denouncing the accusations against Mardini and other humanitarian workers and defending their actions as legal activities.

[6] Advocating for refugees, she and her sister Yusra have spoken before the UN General Assembly in New York and for audiences in Germany, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

[7] ERCI had been operating a medical centre in Moria refugee camp, described by Human Rights Watch and other organizations as an "open air prison".

On the same day, Seán Binder, a trained rescue diver and volunteer for the same NGO, went to the police station to meet with Sarah Mardini and was arrested himself.

[10] According to a report in The Guardian, they and two other NGO members were detained in pre-trial detention for 106 days, "with Mardini being incarcerated in Athens' high-security Korydallos prison.

[13] Apart from the 24 former members of ERCI, a number of other humanitarian workers have been facing prosecution in Greece, similar to what happened in Italy, where providing aid to migrants has also been criminalised.

"[19] According to a report on the trial against the volunteers in the German newspaper taz of 30 January 2023, Mardini no longer gives interviews, as the years of indictment had burdened her too much.

Starting on 23 March 2023, the film was shown in several German cities in the presence of Sarah Mardini, Seán Binder and director Charly Wai Feldman.