I cercatori di miraggi (2009)

This documentary explores two geographic and human trails going in opposite directions: the outward journey of some Italian independent volunteers to Africa, and the flow of African clandestine immigrants running in the reverse direction. Both paths are quests for hope. But, are they such different tracks? In both cases there is a search for hope. The formers follow the urge of enriching their lives making themselves useful to the most unfortunate; the latter are pushed by a compelling demand for survival, by the need to guarantee a minimum outliving to their families, by the pursuit of freedom or the necessity of medical assistance. The paradox is that to achieve a status in this 'artificial paradise' the Africans are requested to get rid of the 'peculiarity of their roots', which is exactly what the Italian volunteers went searching for in the ancient unspoilt 'old paradise'.