Essential Information
| Type | Events and festivals |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Date and Times | Friday 13 June 2025 | 6.30pm-8.30pm |
| Prices | Free |
This event highlights the perils of maritime migration, through short films and panel discussions.
The central Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Europe is the deadliest migration route in the world, with thousands of migrants losing their lives each year in precarious boats.
Maritime migration to the UK has also seen a significant increase, with over 150,000 people arriving across the English Channel since 2018.
This event will feature insights from filmmakers, academics and creatives, discussing issues from cultural displacement to identity.
It will take place in the Lecture Theatre at the National Maritime Museum, and is part of a series of events at Royal Museums Greenwich marking Refugee Week.
Event timings
Doors and bar open: 5.45pm
Film screenings: 6.30pm
Panel discussion: 7.30pm
Event finishes: 8.30pm
Film screenings
Liquid Traces: The Left-to-Die Boat Case
Liquid Traces reconstructs the events of the "left-to-die" boat case. In March 2011, a small rubber boat carrying 72 passengers left the Libyan coast, heading towards the island of Lampedusa in Italy.
Following an engine failure, the boat ran into difficulties. Despite several distress signals relaying the location, and encounters with military helicopters and ships, the passengers were left adrift for 14 days in NATO's maritime surveillance area. 63 people died.
This short film is directed by Charles Heller and Lorenzo Pezzani.
The Story of Migration
This short, animated film explores the relationship between migration and inequality. It was crated by Karrie Fransman for research organisation PositiveNegatives, and was nominated for 'Best Animated Film' in the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Research in Film Awards 2021.
Life on the Move
Centred on the Horn of Africa, this stop-motion animation explores the complex reasons why people move across borders, drawing on migrant experiences. Created by PositiveNegatives, the film was the winner of the 'Best Social Media Short' category in the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Research in Film Awards 2019.
The film was directed by Osbert Parker and Dr Benjamin Worku-Dix. Please be aware that it contains depictions of violence.
About PositiveNegatives
PositiveNegatives is a non-profit creative research organisation based at SOAS University of London.
It works collaboratively with research teams to develop engaging and impactful comics, animations and educational resources to reach new audiences and help build a creative legacy from the research findings.
Panel discussion
Meet the panellists
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Dr Benjamin Worku-Dix
Dr Benjamin Worku-Dix is the Founding Director of PositiveNegatives and a Senior Fellow at SOAS, University of London.
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Shorsh Saleh
Shorsh Saleh is an artist. His works focus on the subjects of migration and identity, employing the traditional techniques of miniature painting in a contemporary context.
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Güler Ateş
Güler Ateş was born in Eastern Turkey and lives and works in the UK. Her multidisciplinary work encompasses video, photography, printmaking and performance through which she explores the experience of identity, diaspora and cultural displacement.
Güler graduated in 2008 from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Fine Art. Currently, she is Digital Print Tutor at the Royal Academy Schools. Her work can be found in the print collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, Government Art Collection (UK), Oude Kerk Amsterdam, Huis Marseille, Museum Van Loon in Amsterdam, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR) in Rio de Janeiro and the Museum of Oriental Art in Turin.
