In this acclaimed film which won top directing and acting prizes at the Venice Film Festival,writer-director Garrone presents a “reverse shot” of the immigration experience while unfurlingan epic, cinematographically magnificent odyssey from West Africa to Italy. The story is toldthrough the mind’s eye and experiences of two Senegalese teenagers living in Dakar whoyearn for a brighter future in Europe. Yet between their dreams and reality lies a treacherousjourney through a labyrinth of checkpoints, the scorched Saharan desert, a fetid North Africanprison and the vast waters of the Mediterranean where thousands have died packed insidevessels barely fit for passage.