THE HUMAN CARGO/ LA NAVE DOLCE

Italy, 2012, 90 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Daniele Vicari.

Stop the boats! Turn back the boats!

No, this film is not about current Australian asylum seeker policy. It is a documentary about events in Italy and Albania in 1991. Already this episode about Albanian refugees has been the subject of a feature film, L’ America, directed by Gianni Amelio in 1994, winner of the Catholic Film Office award.

This time, a documentary has been made utilizing footage shot at the time, home movie, film material, television footage. It is a striking compilation and tells the very interesting story of thousands of Albanians who took the opportunity to storm a cargo boat and sail to Italy. Thre are quite a number of talking head interviews from men, women and boys who made he trip as well as from the captain and local Italian authorities.

The film gives background to Albanian history in the later 20th century, especially under communist rule. When the Berlin wall came down, there was a sense of relief in many Soviet empire countries, including the very strict Albania. Protests began, people wanted to move away from the somewhat impoverished country.

In August 1991, a cargo ship which had travelled around the world and had brought back a load of sugar to Albania, was mobbed by, possibly, 20,000 citizens. It was a sunny day, people were at the beach, the word got around, and men and women and children headed for the boat, climbing aboard en masse. The visuals of the thousands on the boat are quite striking, prow to stern people.

While the ship needed some repairs, the captain decided to move out with his human cargo. They sailed to the port of Brindisi but were refused entry to the port. They sailed along the coast to the port of Bari which they entered. The mayor responded favourably but the government in Rome was far more cautious and ultimately critical of the behaviour of the mayor, condemning his him as unpatriotic.

However, what the mass of people as well as the authorities in Italy did not take immediately into account the need for food and water as well as hygiene. On arriving in Bari, many of the men leapt from the ship and authorities contained them on the docks. Others were bussed into the local stadium, food being thrown in by helicopter, gangs set up in order to commandeer the food, and there were riots on the wharves.
Ultimately, the people were returned to Albania.

The value of this kind of documentary is to present the visuals within the space of 100 minutes, reflection on what happened in Italy and the 1990s, but a challenge to what is happening in Italy, with refugees from North Africa, at the present, let alone the migrations of asylum seekers and refugees from the Middle East. The film is a sobering experience for Australians to watch, considering the comparatively few refugees who come by boat from Indonesia, the demands that it makes on government, on the detention centres as well as all that logistics of processing, housing, education.

The English version of the title, Human Cargo, gives a particular emphasis compared with theatre Italian original, La Nave Dolce, The Sweet Ship.

1. The impact of this documentary and is reconstruction of actual events? Of the 1990s? Refugees, immigration, 21st century issues, the issues of real people?

2. The footage and editing, the ship, the people, experiences at the dock, the stadium? The returning of the refugees? Television footage, film footage? Musical score?

3. The titles, the different perspectives, the more genial Italian title, the objective English title?

4. The history of the refugees, 20th century, persecution, migrants, causes, searching for a different quality of living? The refugees in this film?

5. Italy, the number of migrants, by land, by sea? Italy as the dream? For thousands? For Albanians? Albanians, Italian language, television programs, Italy as paradise, comparison with their own way of life? Their being thwarted?

6. The 20th century history of Albania, communist rule, living in a time warp, harsh conditions? Police state, protest, prison? The fall of the Berlin wall, the tearing down statues in Albania, new hopes in the 1990s?

7. August the seventh 1991? The ship, the voyage to Cuba, unloading the sugar, in the port? Thousands at the beach? People running towards the boat, boarding by all means possible, the carefree attitude, the thousands?

8. The technique of the film to use voices of those who travelled: the woman and her story of her husband and her brother? The young men at the time? The middle aged men? The film director? The captain of the ship? Italian authorities in Bari, the local officials, the woman with strong views about the migrant treatment, the mayor of Bari, the neighbour and the restrictions she shared, the words of the president and his condemnation of the mayor?

9. The captain, the repairs, the need for water, the decision to go, the voyage, the need for food and water, people going without? Cheering initially, the vast numbers all over the boat? Becoming silent, refused entry to Brindisi, going up the coast, entering Bari Harbour, the helicopter and the throwing of the sandal?

10. Bari, the orders, the role of the captain, the mayor and his presence, at the dock, decisions from Rome and the government, the buses, taking people to the stadium?

11. The men diving, arriving at the dock, disembarking more passengers?

12. Controls, lack of control, the police and their work, more people coming, the need for food, the beginning of riots, hoses, the Albanians and the gangs?

13. The stadium, harsh conditions, exposed, lack of hygiene, the helicopters, dropping food, greedy people, the gangs and control?

14. Women and children, care for them, allowed out?

15. The plans for repatriation, the people tired, wanting to go back, boarding the planes, in the planes, the bonds?

16. The Italian assessment of the situation and humanitarian considerations? The harsh views of the president?

17. The history of migration from Albania, the range of boats, the number of people who stayed?

18. The story of the woman, pretending to be sick, helping with the medical situations, in the stadium, her going back? The young man 17, and his experiences? The boy 14 and his memories? The film director? The middle aged men and their experiences?

19. The continuing of refugee issues into the 21st century?