Fire At Sea

Fire at Sea is a 2016 documentary directed by the Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi. The film is about the Italian port Lampedusa and how it acts as the gateway to Europe for thousands of refugees from Africa and the Middle East. I found the film to be very emotional due to its naturalistic style. Most documentaries try to persuade the audience regarding issues in politics, religion, science, and culture. Often times documentary filmmakers gather facts in order to convince the audience to think differently about certain issues. However, Fire at Sea does not use the camera to persuade the audience that emigration is a true social issue, instead director Rosi uses his camera to capture the daily lives and culture of the islanders. Likewise, he does not use

Furthermore, the film focuses on 12-year-old Samuele as he learns to master the sea. The audience sees him making a sling-shot, going to the doctor, attending school, and eating dinner with his family. Why would a film about emigration focus so much time on these scenes? The answer becomes clear when the director cuts between scenes of the islanders and scenes of the refugees. For example, in one scene the audience observes refugees being processed as they enter the island. The camera holds still as men are searched by the police. In another scene the coast guard rescues a boat with hundreds of refugees on it. The audience sees the men and women on the boat hand dozens of lifeless bodies to the coast guard. We see the cold, wet, and hungry refugees sitting on the deck of the coast guard ship. Many of them crying over the loss of their loved ones. Both the refugees and the islanders depend on the sea to survive. The islanders use the sea for employment such as for fishing and other commercial endeavors. This is why Samuel’s grandfather wanted him to practice being on a boat in order to learn how not to become sea sick. In contrast, the refugees use the sea to escape the hardships of