Waking Hours

A nocturnal descent into the lives of Afghan people smugglers living in the forests of the Balkan route, this Venice award winner is a profound, immersive experience.

In the darkness of a forest in northern Serbia, right by the border of Hungary, Afghan passeurs gather around a flickering fire: smoking, baking bread and discussing the best corridors for smuggling people across the border. As gunshots resound in the distance and loudspeakers blast periodic warnings from the Hungarian side, these tiny figures linger in the shadow of the European Union.

Taking place almost entirely in darkness – illuminated only by firelight, torches, phones and distant passing headlights – this immersive, experiential work of direct cinema takes us into the world of the men who facilitate safe passage along the Balkan route. Seeing the work of their often-reviled subjects as “a response to and a consequence of Europe’s exclusionary policies”, Italian directors Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini covertly film from a distance, danger forever in the air. With its nocturnal imagery and heightened quality of sound, Waking Hours plays almost like a slow-burning horror movie: plunging viewers into an unsettling night; cultivating a sense of mounting fear; asking us to imagine what’s lurking outside the frame.

Content: Melbourne International Film Festival