Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini’s documentary is a proper surprise – and it’s a good one. Waking Hours, selected for Venice’s International Film Critics’ Week, takes on the refugee crisis. It’s something that, despite all the horrors, feels familiar to many viewers, having been bombarded with news stories and docs of varying quality. But this time around, it’s not about looking for new ways of showing ongoing tragedies: it’s about not showing them at all.

Quite literally, as this film starts in the dark and largely stays there. There are no cops, no activists, no official refugee camps. Cammarata and Foscarini are in a forest somewhere in Serbia, close to the border. It’s the middle of the night. That’s when people – or “the passengers”, as they are called here – are on the move, led by Afghan smugglers. You can barely make out their outlines.

It could be a confusing choice, but it feels right. They are not just observers, these young Italian directors; they blend into the nocturnal universe as it swallows them up. Much later, when the first close-up finally happens – around 40 minutes in – it hits different. It feels earned. Cammarata and Foscarini clearly took their time approaching people whose very job description is to hide. But once they step out of the woods and into the light, Waking Hours goes from experimental to reassuringly normal. Smugglers gather around a fire, they cook and chat – “You talk non-stop like that BBC radio,” someone snaps. They also share stories about “the passengers” who keep on going, yet can’t really get anywhere.

These conversations can be silly, with one person banging on about “that German princess, Hillary Clinton or maybe Angela Merkel”. They can also be sad, because most stories referenced here probably won’t end well.
- “I’ve been to every country in Schengen,” admits one person.
- “But you came back, because it’s a cruel world,” comes the stoic answer.

There’s resignation but also gratitude for anything that feels like a slight improvement, and for any hour that goes by without a major hiccup. In a conversation with Cineuropa, Cammarata and Foscarini admitted the film took them by surprise, too. While chasing some insects (!), they ran into something they didn’t quite understand. They don’t pretend to understand everything in the finished film either, which is why it’s not about preaching or violence, although that does get a few mentions – instead, it’s about curiosity and empathy. And about sharing a moment together, bathed in a warm light, over a meal, while the darkness patiently awaits.

Waking Hours is an Italian production staged by Volos Films Italia and co-produced by Cosma Film. Its international sales are handled by Luminalia.