No Man is an Island

The Refugee Experience

Nominated for Best Documentary at Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival, NO MAN IS AN ISLAND illuminates the refugee experience and its contradictions.

The Italian island of Lampedusa has increasingly become a rescue point for migrants and refugees seeking a gateway into Europe. Omar, a refugee who fled Tunisia during the Arab Spring, was taken in by a doctor and set up with a job as an interpreter in the local center for refugees. Adam, a young migrant from Ghana, was taken in by a hotel operator and works as a valet. As each immigrant learns and assimilates, each begins to have desires like any other Lampedusiani youth, but their foreignness remains central to their identities.

Amidst Europe's ongoing refugee crisis, and the Lampedusiani's admirable efforts to bear more than their share of the burden, the island can feel like both a sanctuary and a small town to escape from.