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Fire at Sea

Play trailer Poster for Fire at Sea Released Oct 21, 2016 1h 48m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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95% Tomatometer 95 Reviews 66% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Life on the island of Lampedusa during the refugee crisis.
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Fire at Sea

Fire at Sea

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Critics Consensus

Fire at Sea offers a clear-eyed yet empathetic look at a corner of the world whose terrain may be unfamiliar to many, but whose people's story remains universal.

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Critics Reviews

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Anna Diamond The Atlantic Fire at Sea is a powerful, and beautifully shot, look at the migrant crisis-one that manages to subvert viewer expectations of what has become for many a familiar news subject. Jun 16, 2017 Full Review Scott Marks San Diego Reader Who needs voiceovers when a director's camera has this much to say? Rated: 4/5 Feb 3, 2017 Full Review Tom Long Detroit News A fascinating study in contrasts, "Fire at Sea' shows how the normal and painfully abnormal exist side by side - the horrific and the serene, the tragic and the mundane, global crisis and daily humdrum. Rated: B+ Jan 20, 2017 Full Review Michael J. Casey Michael J. Cinema As if one of Wender's angels descended to observe as closely as possible, Rosi presents his observations without commentary or context. Rated: 4/5 Jun 14, 2021 Full Review David Bax Battleship Pretension Rosi has given us a deceptively beautiful picture of a world of constant war. Jan 4, 2021 Full Review Dustin Chang ScreenAnarchy Rosi lets viewer to take in and think for themselves about the situation without judgment. Jul 17, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Delgis Jose M I know this is cliche but every frame is truly a painting. The subject matter is also engrossing. Great film! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Long awaited documentary for me to se and I could not find it until four years after it's release. Italian island of Lampedusa is a small place where everyone works within the fishing business. Sure, they have some troubles with unfriendly waters at times and the usual middle life issues. The biggest problem here are all the refugees. They come in by boats. Many of them already dead, most of them really sick. Hundreds in every boat and there are plenty of boats. People from this area seem to get many of these boats and they are trying to help. It cost them a lot, both physically and money-wise. A pretty tough documentary that shows us the extreme reality of people leaving they're country as they have not other choice. They gamble and many fail. People want to help, but it's not easy. There's too many refugees and so much work. This film is concentrating on a Lampedusa family for most of the playtime, especially on a young boy with some eye issues. It shift's nicely between subjects, and it's in total a very important, solid watch. 8 out of 10 sling shots. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member wow this one was a yawner as there was so much irrelevant material that was added. It is a tragic tale of all the immigrants that die making the trek and there should have been more focus on this part of the story. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Just dull. No story thread, a snails pace, and nothing to say about a complex topic Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 05/09/19 Full Review Audience Member ONLY WISH I DISCOVERED I COULD WATCH THIS AT DOUBLE SPEED ALL TOO LATE IN THE MOVIE... STORY TOLD BUT A TRIAL OF PATIENCE. Tragedy appreciated. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member There wasn’t a single fire in this movie at all. The sea was present, but there was certainly no fire on the sea. To make up for it there is a pretty cool kid with a lazy eye that is a “passionate” sling shot maker who gets sea sick despite being from a family of sailing fisherman. That kid is awesome. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/16/18 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Life on the island of Lampedusa during the refugee crisis.
Director
Gianfranco Rosi
Producer
Donatella Palermo, Gianfranco Rosi
Screenwriter
Gianfranco Rosi
Distributor
Kino Lorber
Production Co
arte France Cinéma, Stemal Entertainment, Les Films d'ici, 21 Unofilm
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Italian
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 21, 2016, Limited
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Feb 3, 2017
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 14, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$114.0K
Runtime
1h 48m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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