by Juliette de Marcillac, France, 2023, 69’
As night falls in the picturesque French ski resort of Montgenèvre, the mountains become the setting for a desperate cat-and-mouse game. Small groups of migrants move from Italy to France across the snowy Alps, while being hunted by border police. A team of volunteers and members of Doctors Without Borders try to provide help where they can. In the darkness they scour the slopes looking for people in distress – pregnant women, young children without parents, sick people-whose willingness to make the dangerous night journey across the ice, betrays their desperation. The prevailing emotion among the volunteers is one of outrage against the system. How did it come to this point, to force asylum seekers to make such dangerous decisions? The camera closely follows the humanitarian workers for a single night: the horror stories told by the refugees in whispered voices contrast sharply with the idyllic moonlit landscape. Many of them recount with voiceover the hardships they endured on their, sometimes years-long, journey to Europe.
Watch the trailer
Live screening: Thursday 14 November, 18.00, Cecchi Point
Introduced and commented by: Martina Tazzioli (University of Bologna)
