An official Marquee International Film Festival selection
Italy, France, United States,Germany,Qatar | 107 min | DCP |Dir. Jonas Carpignano
This remarkably timely, eye-opening look at an all-too-real issue charts the death-defying struggle of African migrants as they risk everything to start a new life in Europe. Ayiva (first time actor Koudous Seihon in a revelatory performance) and Abas (Alassane Sy) are close friends from Burkina Faso determined to make it to Italy in order to find work and provide for their families back home. But even after surviving the harrowing journey—desert bandits, a treacherous sea voyage, arrest—nothing can prepare the two men for the hostility and violence that awaits them. A gripping tale of survival told with vivid realism, Mediterranea immerses viewers in the heart of a humanitarian crisis that for far too many is a lived reality.
"These kinds of stories emphasize the isolation and miserablism of being a foreigner, but Mediterranea has moments of camaraderie and lightness that make the contrasting despair all the more palpable"-Noel Murray, A.V. Club
