The Pirogue

In this moving, smartly observed migrant drama, the captain of a small fishing boat (a pirogue) agrees to transport 30 of his fellow Senegalese compatriots across dangerous seas in hopes of finding better lives in Spain. The desperate travelers—all men save one female stowaway—come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, but they share in common the dream offered by the distant coasts of Europe. “In Europe as in the United States, immigration is a politically contentious issue,” noted a New York Times review, but this “remarkably cleareyed, quietly ambitious film…takes a different approach.” (87 mins., HDCAM)

Presented in partnership with The Global Mobility Project at Ohio State, a Humanities & Arts Discovery Theme pilot project.