Synopsis

Over the past few years, thousands of people have lost their lives or have gone missing while crossing the Mediterranean. However, one question never appears in the reports on the refugee crisis: what happens to the dead bodies that are recovered from the sea? Who takes care of their bereaved families and who helps the families to find their missing relatives?
Nathalie Borgers’ film The Remains follows two parallel narratives. The first focuses on those left to deal with the remains of each terrible shipwreck on Lesbos. The second portrays a Syrian family’s reunion in Vienna, and the inconsolable sadness of losing 13 relatives whose bodies were never found. A grief that can find no resting place.

Awards

Festival Nominee

• DIAGONALE, Graz, Competition, 2019
• FIFF Créteil, Competition, 2019 * Dok.Fest München, 2019
• Lerapetra International Documentary Festival, Creta, 2019
• Interférences, Lyon, 2019
• Berlin Human Rights Film Festival 2019
• FIFDH, Paris, 2019
• Tertio Milenio Film Festival, Rome 2019
• Which Human Rights ? Film Festival, Istanbul, 2019
• Peloponnes International Film Festival, Kalamata, 2020
• One World Festival, Prag, 2020
  Awards
• BEST DOCUMENTARY, DIAGONALE 2019 (Graz, Austria),
• NOMINEE, Willy Brand PRIZE for Freedom and human Rights (Berlin Human Rights Film Festival 2019),
• NOMINEE, Europa Prize, Potsdam 2019, SPECIAL JURY PRIZE,
• Festival International des Films sur les Droits Humains, Paris, 2019, DOCUMENTARY AWARD (Humanitarian),
• The Wifts Foundation (Women’s International Film and Television Showcase), Los Angeles