Terraferma (English: Dry Land) is a 2011 Italian drama film directed by Emanuele Crialese. The film premiered at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. The film was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.
Plot
On Linosa, fishermen are punished for saving illegal immigrants (boat people) 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. Several die, and Filippo changes his mind about the matter: he helps a family consisting of a mother, a little boy and a newborn baby, to leave to the Italian mainland.