Production has started on German crime drama “Dark Woods,” based on the real-life 1989 disappearance of a woman who was the sister of a high-ranking German police officer. It will star Matthias Brandt (“Babylon Berlin”), Karoline Schuch (“Hanna’s Journey”), and August Wittgenstein (“Das Boot”). Silke Bodenbender (“Vater Mutter Morder”) and Nicholas Ofczarek (“Pagan Peak”) have also been cast in the series, which is for free-TV channel Das Erste.

Global Screen has international rights and will distribute the six-part drama. Bodenbender plays Barbara Neder, who went missing in Lower Saxony. Shortly before, two couples had been cruelly murdered in nearby woodlands.

The scripted series follows the efforts of her brother, a former senior police officer, to find her. Because the disappearance takes place outside his jurisdiction, he cannot officially investigate, but he sets out to solve the case, a quest for justice that continues past his retirement and ultimately sees him tracking a suspected serial killer.

The real-life brother, Wolfgang Sielaff, is advising on the series. ConradFilm and Bavaria Fiction are producing. Sven Bohse (“Ku’damm 56”) will direct from a script from International Emmy winner Stefan Kolditz (“Generation War”). Shooting wraps in November. The series will bow on Das Erste in the second half of 2020.