In conjuction with Migration Lab: Art on the Front Line taking place in Dublin on Thursday 15 June, the Irish Film Institute will host a screening of the 2016 Italian documentary, 'Fire at Sea', the previous evening, Wednesday 14 June at 6pm.
The screeing will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by broadcaster/journalist, Norah Casey, in conversation with journalists, Razan Ibraheem and Ismail Einashe and Calais activist Karen Moynihan.
Lampedusa has become a flashpoint in the ongoing immigration crisis; roughly half way between Libya and Sicily, African migrants are drawn to the tiny island on their hazardous crossings to make first contact with mainland Europe. Gianfranco Rosi’s (Sacro Gra) portrait of the island, a deserved winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, takes an oblique approach to its subject, choosing to focus on the everyday lives of the islanders, especially 12-year-old Samuele, juxtaposing impressionistic observations of their lives with frequently harrowing scenes of coastguard search-and-rescue missions as grievously over-burdened migrant boats are apprehended. Samuele’s obliviousness to what is happening just beyond his limited horizon is telling. Employing a detached viewpoint, Rosi skillfully avoids didacticism, creating a portrait of a traditional community unwittingly tainted by the geopolitical realities of conflict and war. (Notes by David O’Mahony.)
For more information and to book, visit http://www.ifi.ie/fire-at-sea/
