Fuocoammare (2016)

Capturing life on the Italian island of Lampedusa, a frontline in the European migrant crisis.

Director:

Gianfranco Rosi

Writers:

Gianfranco Rosi, Carla Cattani (idea)

Stars:

Samuele Pucillo, Mattias Cucina, Samuele Caruana

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 14 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Samuele Pucillo	...	Himself
Mattias Cucina	...	Himself
Samuele Caruana	...	Himself
Pietro Bartolo	...	Himself
Giuseppe Fragapane	...	Himself
Maria Signorello	...	Herself
Francesco Paterna	...	Himself
Francesco Mannino	...	Himself
Maria Costa	...	Herself

Storyline

Situated some 200km off Italy's southern coast, Lampedusa has hit world headlines in recent years as the first port of call for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants hoping to make a new life in Europe. Rosi spent months living on the Mediterranean island, capturing its history, culture and the current everyday reality of its 6,000-strong local population as hundreds of migrants land on its shores on a weekly basis. The resulting documentary focuses on 12-year-old Samuele, a local boy who loves to hunt with his slingshot and spend time on land even though he hails from a culture steeped in the sea.

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Plot Keywords:

italy | pregnant with twins | lazy eye | documentary style | 2010s | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

18 February 2016 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Mare nostrum

Filming Locations:

Lampedusa, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

€384,633 (Italy), 29 February 2016

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,906, 21 October 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$114,535, 17 March 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stemal Entertainment, 21 Unofilm, Istituto Luce Cinecittà

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Italy for the 'Best Documentary Film' category of the 89th Academy Awards in 2017.

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Quotes

Nigerian Refugee: This is my testimony... We could no longer stay in Nigeria. Many were dying. Most were bombed... We flee from Nigeria. We ran to the desert. We went Sahara Desert and many died... Raping and killing many people, and we could not stay. We flee to Libya. And Libya was a city of ISIS. And Libya was a place not to stay. We cried on our knees, 'What shall we do?' The mountains could not hide us. The people could not hide us. And we ran to the sea. On the journey on the sea, 200 passengers died. They...

User Reviews

Heart-wrenching docudrama: dying to be free

FIRE AT SEA won the 'Golden Bear' best picture award at the Berlin Film Festival in February. Part documentary, part docudrama, it was filmed on the Italian island of Lampedusa, which lies roughly midway between Libya and Sicily and has become the first port of call for more than 100,000 migrants from Africa and the Middle East. Over 15,000 have drowned, dying to be set free from terror and tyranny and poverty.

We see the Italian navy rescuing migrants from their sinking overcrowded boats and dinghies; many of them are in a desperate condition after days at sea. We get glimpses of the 'internment camp'where they wait to be processed and sent on to their uncertain future in a Europe which is increasingly unwelcoming.

Alternating with the refugee crisis, the film's main focus is Samuele, a 12-year-old Lampedusan who lives with his fisherman father and grandmother. The family play themselves in the style of a Pasolini movie (minus the sex and the blasphemy). We watch Samuele slurping spaghetti, struggling with homework, playing with a slingshot. They seem to have a very limited awareness of the migrant situation, although that is perhaps only the director's way of pointing up the contrast between the ordinariness of their lives and the appalling tragedy taking place in the waters around their island.

This heart-wrenching film offers no solution to the crisis. How could it? There clearly isn't one.