Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

See what’s playing
Purple Sea
Purple Sea
6.9
/10
512 Ratings

PURPLE SEA

Das Purpurmeer

Directed by Amel Alzakout, Khaled Abdulwahed
Germany, 2020
Avant-Garde, Documentary

Synopsis

As the way to Europe remained blocked for Syrian artist Amel Alzakout, she decided to cross the Mediterranean Sea with smugglers. However, just before reaching the coast of Lesbos, the overcrowded boat she was on capsized. With a waterproof camera strapped to her wrist, Amel recorded the events.

Synopsis

As the way to Europe remained blocked for Syrian artist Amel Alzakout, she decided to cross the Mediterranean Sea with smugglers. However, just before reaching the coast of Lesbos, the overcrowded boat she was on capsized. With a waterproof camera strapped to her wrist, Amel recorded the events.

Our take

As she fled Syria, artist Amel Alzakout’s wrist-attached GoPro camera captured her boat capsizing in a terrifying mosaic of colour and sound. Visceral immediacy and poetic narration collide in Purple Sea, a first-person account of the refugee crisis, and a survival story of heart-stopping urgency.