Mediterranea(2015)
dir. Jonas Carpignano
Two men cross the Sahara and the sea to pick oranges.
Where to watch: Subscription: AMC+ (and via Apple TV, Amazon, Roku channels), Sundance Now, Philo; free on Kanopy (library card); rent $3.99 on Amazon and Apple TV (JustWatch US, checked 2026-08-30). Verify.Letterboxd ↗
Ayiva and Abas leave Burkina Faso for a better life in Europe. They cross the Sahara and the Mediterranean in a boat that barely floats, and arrive in Rosarno, in southern Italy, to pick oranges for almost no money. The town turns on them. Carpignano made it with real migrants, one of whom stars in it, and based the last act on the 2010 Rosarno riots.
Why it’s here
The film puts the journey on screen and then shows that the arrival is its own crossing. What's punk is the way it was made, with the people who made the trip, and it does not give them a rescue. What's pedagogical is how it can sit beside the news and show that what looks like a border story is also a labor story. Pairs with Exit West, Solito, Enrique's Journey and Fire at Sea (suggested 10-29). Note: it is a fiction film built on real events; scenes of the crossing and violence are intense.
Where This Film Lives
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