ESPN Films will debut its latest documentary, “Missing at Sea“, this Sunday, November 10, @ 8:30PM ET on ESPN and will be available to stream on ESPN+. Directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Nicole Noren, with reporting by ESPN’s Sam Borden, the film tells the gripping story of Ivan Gjorgievski, who was swept out to sea and survived 18 harrowing hours in the Aegean. Captured with a raw, intimate lens, “Missing at Sea” explores Gjorgievski’s extraordinary endurance amid a tragic turn of events that left him battling both the elements and his emotions.
“We set out to document Ivan’s resilience in the face of the impossible, but what we found went beyond survival,” said director Nicole Noren. “Ivan’s story is one of incredible physical and mental strength, but it’s also about living with loss and unanswered questions.”
Noren, a six-time Emmy®-winning journalist and filmmaker, produced over 50 investigative reports and documentaries for ESPN and now heads her own production company. Known for her films “Betsy & Irv” and “LISTEN”, Noren’s work often dives into complex social issues with a nuanced, empathetic lens.
“Missing at Sea” first premiered at this year’s Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.
A birthday party on the beach had turned tragic – friends caught in a riptide and within minutes two were missing. The story went viral. The headlines said a man miraculously spent 18 hours overnight in a stormy Aegean Sea floating on a soccer ball. In conditions so harrowing that rescue operations had to be halted overnight, the 32-year-old software engineer survived on the strength of his wits, his focus, and his refusal to give up. “Missing at Sea” tells the story of Ivan Gjorgievski’s long, harrowing night in the dark and crash of the ocean. Filmmakers travel to North Macedonia and Greece for exclusive interviews with Gjorgievski, his friends, and those who searched for him. In an immersive first-person account, what begins as a tale of unimaginable endurance becomes a poignant exploration of what it means to live with devastating loss and unanswered questions.
