Der Weisse Afrikaner (TV)

Set in the astonishing wilderness of South Africa this film is an adventurous race for the biggest price of all - Platinum. In the late 1890’s Hans Merensky, having a sixth sense for hidden mineral resources, seeks his fortune in the South African gold mining business, and falls in love with the beautiful but impoverished young noblewoman Rosa von Zülow. But for financial reasons, Rosa decides to marry the much older, but powerful and wealthy geologist van Tonderen. In a great effort Hans, along with his expedition team, tries to locate a gold deposit but his stepbrother Albrecht wants to defeat him by every means possible. In a spectacular race both gangs try to make it to the deposit first. Albrecht triumphs and Hans ends up bankrupt. But Hans is not about to give up and once again takes up the fight against nature and hardened competitors. A strange sample of soil turns out to be platinum – a sensation that nobody has ever expected to find in South Africa. The duel between Albrecht and Hans reaches it’s climax – and this time Hans triumphs over his rival. But this last fight could only be won with the support of real friends and true love. During the showdown Rosa is accidentally wounded and dying while Hans, vanishing in a plane over the horizon, has not yet realised that she sacrificed herself to save his life. PLATINUM uses the biography of Hans Merensky, who donated his fortune to make the way free for a sustainable development in South Africa, as a background for this overwhelming drama of human efforts and sufferings as well as the eternal quest for love, freedom and fulfillment. A classical tale of friendship and spirited determination, which, in the end, created the wealth of a whole nation.