Iphigenia in Aulis

Italian director Tonino De Bernardi filmed on the Greek island Evia (or Euboea) during the refugee crisis. Many immigrants arrived on the Greek islands, as well as in Italy. De Bernardi also filmed the border town Ventimiglia, where refugees play football and queue up for aid in a parking lot. But the focus of this documentary is on the Greek coastal resort Amarynthos, which looks out on Boeotia, where the ancient port of Aulis once lay. This was the setting for Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis, the tragedy in which King Agamemnon demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia. De Bernardi uses locals as the 'dramatis personae' – protagonists such as Iphigenia, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon and Achilles, and has them read excerpts from the play. Fragments which, like a Greek chorus, comment on the status of refugees in Europe. A banner reads 'Solidarity', and a life jacket forms a leitmotif throughout the film. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)