‘The Ottoman Lieutenant’ Teaser: Love Is a Battlefield for Michiel Huisman and Hera Hilmar (Exclusive)

World War I doesn’t get nearly as much cinematic attention as World War II. Rarer still are World War I films that follow the events along the Eastern Front. The new romantic war drama The Ottoman Lieutenant (watch the exclusive teaser above) explores the battle line drawn between the Russian Empire (one of the Allies) and the Ottoman and German empires (the Central Powers).

The story is told through the eyes of Lillie (Anna Karenina‘s Hera Hilmar), a determined American who ventures overseas to join Dr. Jude (Josh Hartnett) at a remote medical mission in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey). However, Lillie soon finds herself at odds with Jude and the mission’s founder, Woodruff (Ben Kingsley), when she falls for the titular military man, Ismail (Game of Thrones and Orphan Black star Michiel Huisman) — just as the war is about to erupt.

Michiel Huisman and Hera Hilmar (Photo: Property of Y-Stone Production, LLC )
Michiel Huisman and Hera Hilmar (Photo: Property of Y-Stone Production, LLC )

Directed by Joseph Ruben (Sleeping With the Enemy, The Forgotten) from a script by Jeff Stockwell (The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys), The Ottoman Lieutenant opens in 2017.