Humanity on Trial (Trailer)
Rent or buy the film at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/humanityontrial2
When the refugee crisis hits Europe, the young Dane Salam travels to Greece to volunteer. Rescuing refugees from the Aegean Sea becomes his calling. But one night while trying to find a refugee family lost at sea, Salam is arrested and charged with human smuggling. If he is convicted, he might spend the rest of his life behind bars in a Greek prison. In the country where democratic values were born Salam’s case will set the course for the future of Europe’s humanity. The verdict will decide: is saving lives a crime in Europe?
Not able to discard the image of the lifeless 3-year old Alan Kurdi on the shores of Europe, the young Dane, Salam, decides to go and help other children and their families himself. On Lesbos, Greece, he starts an NGO and works tirelessly for months, saving countless lives. Suddenly, he is arrested and charged with human smuggling and thrown into a Greek jail alongside four other lifeguards. After spending two nights in jail the others are allowed to travel back to their families, but being the captain of the boat Salam is only released under bail of €10,000, and is denied the right to leave Greece before the trial. So he stays in the country helping refugees where it’s needed the most. After 20 months, almost completely burned out financially, physically and mentally, at last he is allowed to go home. But the impending trial still hangs over him. So he starts preparing with his lawyers, and goes around Europe giving talks and interviews, and meeting with politicians. Over the course of these years, culminating in a ground-breaking trial where lifetime in a Greek prison is at stake, we follow Salam’s case, and the toll it takes on him, and we witness what happens to our European values and legal systems under the pressure of the refugee crisis.
Salam’s case is not unique. Human rights lawyers believe a perversion of the law is happening across Europe where humanitarian helping refugees are being harassed and arrested by authorities. The values and the Europe we tried to create after World War II are trembling under a refugee crisis which is far from over. In April 2018 five times as many refugees came to Lesbos as in the preceding year. And even worse, the percentage of people who died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe has gone from 1 out of every 42 who attempt to cross in 2017 to 1 out of 18 in 2018. But this is not a problem only for Greece to solve, we need a shared European solution.
With its strong personal link to a greater European story, this film will allow us to delve into what kind of values, morals, and future we want for Europe. “Humanity on Trial” wants us to ask ourselves: what kind of humans, do we Europeans want to be?