“Lampedusa” is a name that inevitably makes think of the hundreds of migrants flocking on the shores- so much so that the inhabitants of the Island would be almost forgotten. Gianfranco Rosi doesn’t. And it is through the eyes of a little boy called Samuele that the film maker allows us to share the daily life on the Island.

“Fire at sea” is not only a movie about migrants, it is also a film that shows the life on an island, the life of a young boy and the life at the gates of the tragedy: how to live knowing that a tragedy is unfolding just a few hundred meters?

This film, rewarded by a golden bear at the Berlin Festival, is not aimed at informing. Everyone knows what is happening on this island. Actually, the goal of this film is to raise awareness. But, yet, there is no moral lesson. Silence enables to think and to feel.

This film is already a great success. The head of the Italian government made copies for his 7 European counterparts, and even the Pope wanted to watch it and to meet the film maker! In spite of few stunning pictures of corpses, the film remains sober and above all human.