SYNOPSIS
While the installation of the new government in Italy has tightened immigration laws, the numbers of sea crossings and shipwrecks continue to increase. Life Support, an Italian NGO vessel operated by Emergency, has conducted Search and Rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea since 2022.
Emanuele Nannini, the mission leader, guides a new team in a new rescue operation in the SAR zone, and Giulia Galati, a young and passionate cultural mediator who recently joined the team, is the one that makes the first contact with the survivors, mostly fled from the war torn countries.
After an extensive and intricate search for distressed boats, the real challenges begin after the rescue when the vessel—half empty compared to its full capacity—is mandated by Italian authorities to leave the SAR (Search and Rescue) area and head towards the assigned port in Northern Italy, a 5-day journey away. The Italian government's strategy of allocating distant ports hampers NGOs’ ability to swiftly disembark survivors, affecting their capacity to rescue more lives and adding additional unnecessary costs to the missions.
CREDIT LIST
Director, Producer: Francesca Tosarelli
Cinematography: Francesca Tosarelli, Luke Gallie
Editor: Luke Gallie
Assistant: Francesco Tavoloni
Drone footage: Matteo Paolillo (DD Experience)
Supported by: Canon
Thanks to: Emergency