Simshar

2013, 100 minutes

A story about human survival, inspired by true contemporary stories.

Theo (12) comes from a traditional fishing village. Although his parents, Simon and Sharin, are pushing him to pursue an education and not the dying fishing trade, he is sent on his first fishing trip (together with his father, grandfather and a Malian migrant worker - Moussa) to keep him out of trouble. But the trip goes terribly wrong, and a fire on the 'Simshar' causes the boat to sink, leaving the crew stranded in open water... Simultaneously, Alex (32) - a medic reluctantly relegated to the migrant open center on the island - is dispatched onto the 'Mavi'; a Turkish Merchant vessel which has rescued a group of stranded African boat people. Malta and Italy wage a bureaucratic war over who should take in the migrants, leaving Alex stuck on the vessel... On land, Sharin desperately tries to find out more about the 'Simshar' which uncharacteristically is not communicating. In the same village, John - Alex's best friend and a soldier in the marine unit - tries to get his friend off the destitute ship, but is hindered by several elements, including the search for the 'Simshar'. Eventually, Theo befriends Moussa; whilst Alex is shaken out of his latent racism by the fiery Makeda - an Eritrean passenger whom he begrudgingly depends on for translations. Ultimately, the migrants are taken in by Italy, however, the 'Simshar' crew is spotted by a trawler which, mistaking them for immigrants and not wanting the fate of the 'Mavi', leaves them behind. The 'Mavi' saga behind him, Alex tries to explain to John why he chose to stay on the 'Mavi' once his friend finally managed to come for him. Although John still finds Alex's behavior to be a betrayal of their friendship, Alex's experience inspires the soldier to go against conduct and share the results of the 'Simshar' search with the fishing community. With this information and the fishermen's knowledge of the sea, the 'Simshar' crew are traced down, but by that time there's only one survivor... Written by Rebecca Cremona

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