Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary “Fire at Sea,” about the grave refugee crisis currently facing Europe won the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival’s Golden Bear for best film on Saturday.Rosi’s powerful depiction follows the real-life dramas of displaced migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East risking their lives to reach the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, in the hopes of making it to mainland Europe – all while the Italian coast guard attempts to rescue as many survivors as possible.“At this moment I have to think about all the people who did not survive the journey to Lampedusa,” said Rosi, accepting his Golden Bear prize. “Lampedusa is a generous place. It is a place of fishermen, and fishermen always open their arms to those who come from the sea.”The film’s protagonist is a rambunctious 12-year old boy named Samuele (Samuele Pucillo), who lives on a Mediterranean island, playing outdoors in his father’s fishing boat and practicing his slingshot. Meanwhile, his home becomes ground zero for refugees making their passage. The boy is just one of the inhabitants of Lampedusa bearing witness to a staggering humanitarian tragedy.This year’s Berlinanle jury, led by Meryl Streep, included British actor Clive Owen, German actor Lars Eidinger, British film critic Nick James, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher and Polish filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska.The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize went to Danis Tanovic’s “Death in Sarajevo,” drama about political conflict in Bosnia. For best director, the Silver Bear went to Mia Hansen-Love for her personal, humorous French film “L’Avenir (Things to Come),” starring Isabelle Huppert as a Parisian philosophy teacher forced to deal with life’s sudden changes.These winners were among 18 films vying for the Golden Bear, beating out strong international contenders such as Michael Grandage’s “Genius,” starring Colin Firth and Jude Law and Jeff Nichols’ “Midnight Special,” starring Michael Shannon and Joel Egerton.
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