Brogan Simpson – Where You Are in The Sea: where can you hide? Review

Title of Documentary: When You Are in The Sea: where can you hide?

Director: Jack Jones

Published By: Nordic Anthropological Film Association (NAFA)

Production Date: October 2019

Length: 21:44

Keywords: fishing; migrants; rescue; ethnography; Greece; Sikamineas; Lesvos; Nobel; displacement; borders; place

Link: https://boap.uib.no/index.php/jaf/article/view/2825/2799

The film “When You Are In The Sea: where can you hide?” takes a detailed look at the role Greek fishermen are playing in rescuing migrants fleeing Syria through Turkey to Greece. The film looks specifically at the village Skala Sikamineas, on the island of Lesvos off of the coast of Greece. This film which takes place in May of 2016 sees a time where thousands of people fleeing persecution pass through the village as refugees. This is not a new phenomenon for this village but rather, they have been dealing with the problem for 18 years. It was only with recent media coverage did western countries become aware of this ongoing issue and begin to get involved. Some locals have said that it now seems that instead of fishing for fish they are fishing for people, constantly being aware of any sound or sight that may indicate that there are people around them in or on the water.

This film is filled with many scenes of everyday life for these fishermen and their families, contrasting sharply with the stories being told about what the migrants are going and the horror of finding children drowning in the water. One fisherman regales the viewer with a tale of when they came across their first boat in trouble, sinking among the rocks. The fisherman jumped in and saved 10 people, one of them being a 9-month-old baby but could not save another 10. While this ongoing heroism is saving lives, many are still being lost to the dangers of the sea. These are fishermen who never asked for nor wanted the job saving these people yet feel like it is their responsibility as a human being to help these migrants who left their lives behind to start anew.

One of the problems addressed in this film is the fact that these boats travel deep into the night, so when they sink there is no light to find them, making the fishermen listen for sounds of screaming or spluttering coming from the darkness. For many this has become habit while out fishing, listening to hear if there is anyone drowning nearby. The spluttering can be heard from the night and result in people being saved.

Jack Jones in the production of this film chooses to not ask questions or use voice over but rather he allows the citizens of the islands’ voice to tell their story. Long silences with no voiceovers show the actions of the island peoples going about their daily tasks give an insight into the individuals lives as well as the sights and sounds. The style in which this film is filmed is as a “fly on the wall”, attempting to show the community without interference from a cameraman. While this is not an objective film it does show a view into people lives that have been changed by these migrants. The camera is never apparent but rather is used to show the effect that this migrant problem is affecting and changing people’s lives. While in person interviews are conducted, most interviews are done while people are working or fishing or are conducted and then the audio is overlaid onto video of the people working. While there are no migrants or migrant rescues actually shown in this film for obvious reasons, the effect that these people are playing in the fisherman’s lives is readily apparent.

 As one of the fisherman states in the film, “if you are leaving everything you know behind it is not because of a choice but because of a necessity”. Seeing these people causes something to “click” in themselves and “if everyone felt that then there would be no racism, no people hating the refugees as we are all just human”. This look on mankind is a critical reflection on the current state of humanity, filled with hate towards others. This film manages to capture the integrity and compassion found on this small Greek Island while the rest of the world looks down on these refugees that have nowhere else to go. Overall, this film does a great job introducing to the viewer the overall effects that migrants have on the people they meet on their journey.