Another News Story

Debuting director Orban Wallace’s feature-length work engages the European refugee crisis, but the young British director turns the camera lens in a direction rather different from the rest of the documentary scene investigating recent events. He trains his penetrating gaze on the journalists sent by their employers to the Mediterranean to cover the unfolding humanitarian tragedy. By juxtaposing the stories of reporters and the experiences of Middle East emigrants, he has fostered a new meta-reading of media content. In today’s chaotic era, what is the “who, how, and why” of news spewed forth on world conflicts and crises? “Sometimes you feel you’re making a noise, but not helping really,” laments Lorenzo over the sensationalized treatment of human misfortune; he’s one of those who, in the months-long hunt for fresh information, accepts a nomadic lifestyle. When faced with immeasurable suffering, is it possible to maintain your humanistic sensitivity, or, glazed, do you just go after another news story?