Film Screening: Fire at Sea (Gianfranco Rosa, Italy, 2016)

Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, Rosi's impressionistic glimpse at the ongoing European migrant crisis centres on  Lampedusa, a remote Mediterranean island that has become a major entry point for refugees. There, we meet Samuele, a 12-year-old boy who lives simply, climbing rocks by the shore and playing with his slingshot. Nearby, we bear witness as thousands of men, women, and children risk their lives to make the brutal crossing from Africa. The film masterfully juxtaposes these realities, constructing a collection of tiny details that morph into a shocking excavation of the mechanics of crisis.