Fire at Sea

Winner
Golden Bear
Berlin International Film Festival
Winner
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
Berlin International Film Festival
Nominee
Best Documentary Feature
Academy Awards
Powerful, at times shocking but also intensely human documentary.

NO LONGER PLAYING

Fire at Sea

Winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary observes Europe’s migrant crisis from the vantage point of a Mediterranean island where hundreds of thousands of refugees, fleeing war and poverty, have landed in recent decades. Rosi shows the harrowing work of rescue operations but devotes most of the film to the daily rhythms of Lampedusa, seen through the eyes of a doctor who treats casualties and performs autopsies, and a feisty but anxious pre-teen from a family of fishermen for whom it is simply a peripheral fact of life. With its emphasis on the quotidian, the film reclaims an ongoing tragedy from the abstract sensationalism of media headlines. (New York Film Festival)

Gianfranco Rosi’s observations of everyday life bring us closer to this place that is as real as it is symbolic, and to the emotional world of some of its inhabitants who are exposed to a permanent state of emergency. At the same time his film, which is commentary-free, describes how, even in the smallest of places, two worlds barely touch.

"The European migrant crisis has found its cinematic
Pietà in Fire At Sea, Italian director Gianfranco Rosi's powerful, at times shocking but also intensely human documentary." -Screen International

"Where journalism leaves off, Fire at Sea begins. It takes a unique documentary filmmaker like Gianfranco Rosi to capture the drama through the periscope of his camera focused on the small Sicilian island of Lampedusa." -The Hollywood Reporter

"Packs a powerful punch." -The Guardian

Winner, Golden Bear, 2016 Berlin International Film Festival
Not Rated
Genre
Documentary, World Affairs
Runtime
108
Language
Italian
Director
Gianfranco Rosi
Writer(s)
Gianfranco Rosi, Carla Cattani
Cast
Samuele Pucillo, Mattias Cucina, Giuseppe Fragapane
Awards:
Winner, Golden Bear, Berlin International Film Festival
Winner, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Berlin International Film Festival
Nominee, Best Documentary Feature, Academy Awards
MORE
FEATURED REVIEW
Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter

Conveying the immensity of the ongoing migrant crisis, which is costing thousands of lives each year as it puts European unity and values sorely to the test, has proven far too great a task for news reporting. Where journalism leaves off, Fire at Sea (Fuocoammare) begins. It takes a unique ...

Fire at Sea Get Tickets

There are currently no showtimes for this film. Please check back soon.