There’s a wave of xenophobia in Europe: Despite The Fog director Goran Paskaljevic

The film traces the drama that unfolds when a manager of a restaurant in a small Italian town finds an eight-year-old boy huddled near a bus stop on a rainy evening. The child had lost his parents on their way to Italy on a rubber boat. Though hesitant initially, his wife after a while wants to keep the child in spite of opposition.

“This is an intimate story. It explores how middle-class Europeans look at refugees. There’s a wave of xenophobia in Europe. At present, there is no solidarity in Europe to end this problem. Many have forgotten that they themselves were once refugees in Spain, France and the US. People generally don’t want to leave their homes, friends and culture unless they are pushed to that point. Many of them migrate to escape the horrors of war, and wars are created by Western powers. This problem might not end unless we start thinking about our future and not just our immediate present,” says the filmmaker, who has made 30 documentaries and 18 feature films.

In 2013, Paskaljevic had forged a friendship with actor Victor Banerjee, his co-juror at IFFI. Later on, the Serbian director made a feature film Dev Bhoomi (2017) with Banerjee in the lead. The movie is set in Uttarakhand where the actor has a home. “Dev Bhoomi was my love letter to India,” the director adds.

Paskaljevic, however, wonders if many would watch Despite The Fog as it makes “a political statement”. “Through the movie, I’m criticising growing fascism in the society,” he says. The director is accompanied by co-producer Mariella Li Sacchi, editor Uros Timotijevic, actor Ali Mousa Sarhan and others.