On three October 2013, a boat carrying 500 Eritrean refugees sunk off the coast of the Italian island Lampedusa. More than 360 people drowned. Abraham, one of the survivors, walks through a graveyard of shipwrecks and vividly remembers the nightmarish experience. Meanwhile, chaos breaks loose at the harbor, whilst hundreds of coffins are being loaded onto a military ship.

Direction: Morgan Knibbe

Production: Jos de Putter, Wink de Putter, Jos de Putter, Morgan Knibbe

Cinematography: Morgan Knibbe

Editing: Morgan Knibbe

Sound: Noah Pepper, Taco Drijfhout, Vincent Sinceretti

Original Score: Carlos Dalla-Fiore

Original Title: SHIPWRECK

Original Language: Tigrinya

Subtitles: English

Film Production Country: Netherlands

Statement of the Director/s
An important source of information is the news. A seemingly objective form of information. It presents itsself as an objective medium, but the information presented cannot be objective. Choices are being made in the way this information is recorded and presented. It is a selective truth. This is where a process of alienation for the adience can occur.

For me as a filmmaker, it is a challenge to create a cinematic language with which I can communicate ideas in a clear way and touch the audience emotionally with cinematic tools. At the same time I want to encourage the viewer to think about his or her position in
the (cinematic) viewing experience. It is also very important to experiment with the audiovisual language, to surprise an audience with storytelling that they are not used to and that may offer a new view on existing norms and values.

Honest imagery is only possible when the audience is encouraged to reflect on the
medium. Not free from manipulation, on the contrary. The cinematic medium is ideally suited for manipulation and as a filmmaker I want to manipulate my audience. However, it is possible to stimulate active thinking about content and form. When such ideas about cinematic manipulation are applied to a journalistic topic such as the refugee issue, I think an audience will be encouraged to think about the information that is presented, more than it would be when looking at the news. By involving the audience on an emotional level, the distance between the subject and the audience hopefully becomes a bit smaller.

Biography of the Director/s
Morgan graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy in 2012 with his short experimental film A Twist in The Fabric of Space. It was selected for the IDFA and won a so called Wildcard by the Netherlands Filmfund, which enables a young director to continue creating a personal cinematic language.

His short film Shipwreck focusses on the Lampedusa shipwreck of october 2013. At the 67th Locarno filmfestival in 2014, Shipwreck was awarded with a Silver Leopard and was nominated for the European Film Awards.

Currently Morgan is developing a feature length film, which will revolve around the lives of refugees at the borders of Europe.

Morgan did the cinematography for Shipwreck as well as for his upcoming feature film Those Who Feel the Fire Burning.

Awards Won
- Pardino d'argento Locarno IFF
- Pianifica prize Locarno IFF