Refugee film 'Fire at Sea' wins top prize at Berlin Film Festival
Gianfranco Rosi's documentary film Fuocoammare, or Fire at Sea, about the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Lampedusa, won the Golden Bear prize for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival Saturday.
It was a fitting end for a festival which went out of its way to make refugees welcome by giving them free tickets.
Rosi paid tribute to those who risked their lives to escape war and poverty, and to the people of Lampedusa who welcomed them.
"Of course now at this moment my deeper thoughts go to all the people that never arrived to Lampudusa on these journeys of hope," Rosi said in his acceptance speech on stage at Berlin's cinema palace for the glittering awards ceremony.
Rosi, who won the top prize for another documentary in Venice in 2013, shows daily life on the small island in this film, mostly through the eyes of a young boy named Samuele who makes slingshots to shoot at birds and cactuses.
Refugee film 'Fire at Sea' wins top prize at Berlin Film Festival - Arts & Entertainment - CBC News
Gianfranco Rosi's documentary film Fuocoammare, or Fire at Sea, about the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Lampedusa, won the Golden Bear prize for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival Saturday.
It was a fitting end for a festival which went out of its way to make refugees welcome by giving them free tickets.
Rosi paid tribute to those who risked their lives to escape war and poverty, and to the people of Lampedusa who welcomed them.
"Of course now at this moment my deeper thoughts go to all the people that never arrived to Lampudusa on these journeys of hope," Rosi said in his acceptance speech on stage at Berlin's cinema palace for the glittering awards ceremony.
Rosi, who won the top prize for another documentary in Venice in 2013, shows daily life on the small island in this film, mostly through the eyes of a young boy named Samuele who makes slingshots to shoot at birds and cactuses.
Refugee film 'Fire at Sea' wins top prize at Berlin Film Festival - Arts & Entertainment - CBC News