92 minutes / Color
French; English; Arabic / English subtitles
Release: 2025
Copyright: 2024
NEW ON DIGITAL
Filmed on the Ocean Viking, a ship chartered by the humanitarian organization SOS Méditerranée, SAVE OUR SOULS places viewers alongside sailors and medics as they face the perilous mission of rescuing migrants from overcrowded boats.
Off the coast of Libya, the crew are on the lookout for boats in distress. After a high-risk rescue, shipwrecked travelers and rescuers live together while waiting to dock at a safe port. This interim period on board is the first shelter the survivors receive during their journey, fostering a unique bond with the rescuers. Director Jean-Baptiste Bonnet observes volunteers as they prepare migrants for the asylum process, despite the uncertainty of what comes next.
SAVE OUR SOULS is an immersive meditation on responsibility that explores who answers a call for help, and who has the power to decide the fate of the most vulnerable.
“A powerful documentary. It's a raw, unadorned testimony of a rescue operation and the bond forged between survivors and rescuers.” —Télérama
“A drop of humanity in a sea of distress. This essential documentary reminds us that looking the other way, whether as individuals or as countries, in no way erases reality. Sometimes ordinary people doing extraordinary work is all we need to restore a little bit of our faith in humanity.” —Abus de Ciné
“The film documents a rescue that is at once literal, human, and political, without any voiceover, without any didacticism. Instead, it remains faithful to duration, silence, and uncertainty, capturing all of its trembling reality.” —Microciné Revue de cinéma
“A powerful film, which eschews both narration and music in favor of the sounds of waves and words.” —PREMIERE
“A simple, heartrending, and incredibly beautiful film.” —#AUPOSTE
Select Accolades
Madou, a Senegalese fisherman, risks his life on an illegal boat to Europe.
Idrissa Guiro | 2017 | 52 minutes | Color | English; French | English subtitles
People in the Democratic Republic of Congo travel via boat to the capital to demand reparations for their injuries incurred during the Six-Day War.
Dieudo Hamadi | 2021 | 89 minutes | Color | Swahili; Lingala | English subtitles
In a Dutch classroom, refugee children learn alongside locals under Miss Kiet's firm but loving hand.
Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster | 2017 | 113 minutes | Color | English; Dutch | English subtitles
Bosnian refugees create a news program about their lives.
Chris Marker | 2021 | 28 minutes | Color | English | Closed Captioned
