The Rest (2019), directed by Ai Weiwei, shines a light on the current refugee crisis in Europe by giving voice to the refugees stranded in Turkey, in Greece, in Calais, France, in southern Italy and Germany. The film is sub-titled in English.
The motifs of grief, pain, physical suffering and vulnerability run throughout the film and are the threads that stitch the film together. They weave themselves throughout the narrative of the film against a backdrop of man's inhumanity to man, their exploitation by smugglers, the expression of strong negative feelings against refugees, and Europe's collective decision to stem the flow.
The film opens with an out of focus shot of a male refugee with his back to the camera sharing with us his numerous attempts to leave Turkey for Greece, eight in all, and telling us that he can never go back to Afghanistan. One of the most heart wrenching scenes in the film is the patriarch of a family sharing his experience of losing 13 members of his family in a failed attempt to reach Greece and his inability to gain assistance from the Turkish authorities to recover the remains of his family members. But even if the refugees make it into Greece, their plight isn't any easier as witnessed with the situation of the approximately 15,000 refugees stranded in Idomeni, Greece who are refused entry into Macedonia. In Calais, France, refugees are living in a make shift camp with hopes to make it to England but their attempts are stymied by the French authorities who are building a wall and have put up a chainlink fence to prevent them from accessing the shore to swim across the English channel. If they are caught, they are beaten. There are many emotionally charged and horrifying images in the film and one of the most powerful includes the dismantling and destruction of a make shift camp by the French authorities and the removal of the refugees from the site. In Italy, refugees who refuse to be finger printed are detained, and many refugees are living a hand to mouth existence without any regard to their physical needs. Even if they make it to Germany, they are passively punished. They are over-housed in cramp quarters and denied any possibility of work. The documentary makes clear that refugees are no longer welcomed in Europe. We witness the dismantling not only of the makeshift camp in Calais, France but also the camp in Idomeni, Greece to the repatriation of a refugee family back to Iraq which make this statement abundantly clear.
The director has woven together many visual elements to create a compelling and poignant documentary shining a light on the plight of refugees in Europe, and to a change in policy and support. The documentary raises many important questions: "Why are refugees being blamed for fleeing to Europe and seeking protection and security of their person?" "What has led to a shift in public policy toward refugees?" I applaud Weiwei by using his international stature to call attention to the refugee crisis in Europe, and to shine a light on the current state of affairs, and to continue to give voice to a dispossessed group of people. Do see it for you won't be disappointed.
