On Linosa, fishermen are punished for saving illegal immigrants (refugees) from the sea and, back on shore, letting them go, because this amounts to facilitating illegal immigration. Therefore young local Filippo does not allow them on his boat. After witnessing several deaths, Filippo changes his mind and helps a family (a mother, a little boy and a newborn baby) adrift at the Mediterranean sea to arrive at the Italian mainland.
The film was produced through Italy's Cattleya with 10% co-production support from France, including 200,000 euro from France 2 Cinéma and money from the CNC. The total budget was €7.85 million.[1]
It was released in Italian theaters on 7 September 2011 through 01 Distribution.[8]
Reception
Critical response
Terraferma has an approval rating of 67% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 24 reviews, and an average rating of 6.3/10.[9]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]
Jay Weissberg of Variety described it as "a well-made movie with no pretension but also no crying need to be at a major film festival."[11] Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter called it "a morally passionate social drama, muted by overly familiar storytelling."[12] Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The thematically rich production is grounded in deep moral and emotional reflection."[13] Chuck Wilson of The Village Voice called it predictable and heavy-handed.[14]