'Death is not easy to film': Documentary's unflinching look into Mediterranean migrant crisis

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Some 100 kilometresoff the coast of Africa lies the Italian island of Lampedusa. This tiny slice of land, with a population of just over 6,000,has been a beacon for sailors since ancient times.

Today it is ground zero for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Over the past 20 years, more than 400,000 migrants have arrived at its shores. Thousands have perished trying to reach it.

Fuocoammare, or Fire at Sea, is a new documentary that just had its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The filmcontrasts the lives of the residents ofLampedusa andthe migrants passing through.

"We forget very often that these [migrants] are people, not just numbers," Fire at SeadirectorGianfrancoRosi tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.

Theacclaimed Italian filmmaker spent a year and a half in Lampedusa documenting the tragedy of the migrant crisis and the everyday lives of the islanders. He shares his experience with Tremontionwhat it was like bearing witness to a humanitarian disaster.

"When I encountered deathone day in the middle of the sea, and we found out that under this boat there were 50people that died... Idecided to include thispiece of film,this moment of tragedy in my film,which was a very hard decision you know, to show death is not easy to film."

Fire at Sea opens at the TorontoTIFF Bell Lightbox on Oct.21, 2016.

Listen to the full conversation at the top of this web post.

This segment was produced by The Current's Lara O'Brien.