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Sir Alfred’s story had inspired director Steven Spielberg for the film The Terminal. This Iranian political refugee lived for more than 18 years at Roissy airport (Val-d’Oise). He returned there a few weeks ago and died there on Saturday November 12.
An incredible destiny that inspired The terminal to Steven Spielberg. Mehran Nasseri died at the age of 77, Saturday November 12, in the airport of Roissy where he lived for 18 years, until 2006, on a red bench seat. This Iranian, arrives at Roissy (Val-d’Oise) in 1988 at the age of 43. Wandering between Belgium, England and Germany, he no longer has any papers and makes the airport his refuge. He lives for years alone, among thousands of travellers. “My fate is to have always been completely isolated, yesterday as today“, he confided in 1999.
A life so unusual that Tom Hanks immortalized it in 2004 in The terminal by Steven Spielberg, a Hollywood-style love story. “I didn’t want to make a clown out of him and ridicule this immigrant from the shores of the Black Sea. He is a dignified character who trusts others, he has a deeply positive side“, explained the director. He had become a star at Terminal 1 and was doing interviews under the new name he had chosen, Sir Alfred. He leaves the airport in 2006 and dreams of settling in the United States thanks to the money from the film. But it comes down to Roissy in recent weeks, with the aim of ending his life in the corridors of the airport.