“Fire at Sea is the fruit of an extended sojourn on Lampedusa, an island that, while part of Italy, is closer to Tunisia than to Sicily. Recently, it has become the landing spot for boatloads of refugees and other migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
“The Mediterranean is an escape route for these displaced people and, also, all too often, a graveyard. News reports of the migrants’ plight and images of overloaded boats and drowned bodies have tested the world’s capacity for indifference, and also challenged the compassion of European citizens and their leaders. The debate over what to do about this crisis, which is roiling politics in nearly every country on the Continent, provides Fire at Sea with a context. But the film’s subject is more elusive, at once more below the radar and beyond the reach of political discourse.
“Fire at Sea is impressionistic and intensely absorbing. At the end, you understand something about the texture of life in Lampedusa, and about the effect that migration has had on the island, though it may be hard to put that understanding into words.” - NY Times