Purple Sea

The very last post concerning movies I saw during 20th New Horizons International Film Festival will be about the documentary Purple Sea (2020). Photos for this film were made with a waterproof camera attached to the wrist of Amal Alzakout, a Syrian refugee who in 2015, after the overcrowding of the boat sank, with other passengers in the sea, was drifting somewhere on the Greek coast. She had basically one goal: to stay afloat. The camera follows her gestures. Since they're all blue, the sky and the sea change places, we lose sight of the horizon, we emerge and dive, as Amal did. When the arms of Alzakout reach above the surface, we hear shouts and whistles, we see heads and life jackets. Above all, there is an insanely blue sky that brings to mind tourist brochures advertising vacations by the sea.

Amel Alzakout and Khaled Abdulwahed in their personal film show not only the tragedy but also the absurd and surrealism of the situation. Bear in mind that millions die in front of the world, in the sea not so far from the tourists. This extraordinary essay becomes a reflection on the images we have been seeing for six years now since the migration crisis appeared in mass media.

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