Films Crossing Borders

DCP | 2020 | Directed by Amel Alzakout and Khaled Abdulwahed | Germany | 67 minutes | Arabic with English subtitles

While fleeing Syria, artist Amel Alzakout films a boat sinking off the coast of Lesbos, stranding her and 300 other passengers in open water. A mix of underwater and above-the-surface footage—shot on a waterproof camera strapped to her wrist—captures hours of panic, muffled cries, and limbs thrashing. Harrowing, disorienting, and poignant, PURPLE SEA uses experimental documentary and Alzakout’s poetic voiceover to confront viewers with the raw, personal moment of crisis and survival. As Alzakout explains, “I didn’t want to be seen or dealt with from another perspective. I didn’t want to be seen as a group, to be narrowed down to being a refugee or a migrant or a number. We are individuals.” Read the full interview here.

Films Crossing Borders presents migration stories that traverse diverse and shifting boundaries, from the geopolitical and material to the social and conceptual. Across five nights, the series follows Mixtec women navigating painful returns, Syrian refugees filming survival at sea, and other journeys that ask: What does it mean to cross borders—seen and unseen?

Series curated by Alexa De La Fuente and Zoe Guiney