Cutro, Calabria, Italia

On 26 February 2023, a boat - an old wooden gulet - sank in Steccato di Cutro, in the province of Crotone, Calabria. Inside the boat, which left Izmir, Turkey, on February 21, there were over 180 human beings, mostly of Afghan, Pakistani, Syrian, Turkish, Somali and Iraqi origin. Women, men and children. The shipwreck claimed the lives of 94 migrants, including 34 minors. The number of missing was unknown... The boat, 150 meters from the shore, surrendered before the violence of the waves and the sharp points of the rocks. Who are the victims and survivors of the shipwreck? They are individuals who have fled their lands for a series of causes: armed conflicts, persecutions (of a religious or gender nature), poverty, climate change, the right to aspire to a better existential path, the need to rediscover dignity, to work, to study and to raise a family.

Directed by Mimmo Calopresti, Cutro, Calabria, Italia leans on a strong ensemble — Francesco Colella, Mimmo Calopresti — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2024.