Persisting Dreams

Toni is a fisherman in Lampedusa. He sees men, women and children arriving from other continents. Who are these migrants traveling by sea on an island at Europe’s doors, departing again as soon as they can if they haven’t perished on their way? Through his testimony, intercut by animation that take him on a journey as forced witness, this documentary invites us to question our perception of migrants in Europe – between our tenacious fantasies, Toni’s reality and the persisting dreams of migrants.

Côme Ledésert

Côme Ledésert is a French filmmaker and practice-based PhD student in Film Studies at the University of Westminster, London, UK, supervised by Professor Joshua Oppenheimer. In 2017, he was selected to be part of the Locarno Film Academy (Documentary Summer School). His documentary short “Almut” (2014, 10′) was selected in several international film festivals in USA, Canada and Germany. By intercutting animation with documentary footage, his film “Persisting dreams” (2015, 25′) about the migration issue in Lampedusa tells the story of Toni, a fisherman who binds friendship with migrants.