Technical data
- Title: OPERATION GANYMED
- Year: 1977
- Production: Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), Pentagramma Filmproduktion GmbH & Co. Rainer Erler.
- Country: Germany.
- Direction: Rainer Erler.
- Cast: Dieter Laser, Horst Frank, Jürgen Prochnow, Uwe Friedrichsen.
Description and synopsis
With Operation Ganymed, science fiction writer and director Rainer Erler came to Lanzarote to film a post-apocalyptic story similar to others that were later filmed here, so it can be said that this film was something of a precursor to the rich history of science fiction cinema filmed on the island.
Indeed, after this pioneering German film, other works used Lanzarote to recreate disturbing, dystopian future worlds for mankind on Earth: Beyond the End of the World (1978), Human Animals (1983) and The Possibility of an Island ( 2008). In the case of Operation Ganymed , we are dealing with a group of astronauts who, after returning to our planet, begin to realise that things on Earth have not gone as expected during their expedition through the universe, and they have to face a very threatening and mysterious environment.
Operation Ganymed has many scenes filmed on La Graciosa, an island located in one of the largest marine reserves in Europe and situated to the north of Lanzarote. With only three or four small mountains, La Graciosa is dominated by sand and has spectacular beaches such as Las Conchas, La Francesa and La Cocina in Montaña Amarilla. This small island has only two villages, its streets are still made of sand and under 1,000 residents, making it the least populated and smallest of the Canary Islands. In fact, it was only a few years ago that it was officially recognised as the eighth island of the archipelago. Despite this, administratively and historically it has always depended on Lanzarote. The two islands are linked by regular shipping lines that cover the route numerous times a day and in less than thirty minutes.
Among the cast of actors in Operation Ganymed is a young Jürgen Prochnow, a German actor who went on to film with great directors of world cinema such as David Lynch, Wolfgang Petersen and Anthony Minghella.
