As Europe and Western nations grapple with the growing refugee crisis, particularly in the context of last week’s horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, "Mediterranea" is particularly timely. Premiering at the Cannes Critics’ Week, and picking up honors at the Munich Film Festival and Zurich Film Festival, the film is now gearing up to open stateside, and today we have an exclusive clip.
READ MORE: Review: Jonas Carpignano’s Topical, Intelligent, Empathetic ‘Mediterranea’
Starring Koudous Seihon and Alassane Sy, directed by Jonas Carpignano, and featuring a score composed by "Beasts Of The Southern Wild" duo Benh Zeitlin and Dan Romer, the story follows Ayiva and Abas, close friends from Burkina Faso determined to make it to Italy in order to find work and provide for their families back home. But even after surviving the harrowing journey — desert bandits, a treacherous sea voyage, arrest — nothing can prepare the two men for the hostility and violence that awaits them. But as you’ll see in the clip below, when they arrive in Italy, the tensions become explosion.
"Mediterranea" opens on November 20th.