It’s winter on Lampedusa. It’s cold on the small, windy Italian island, which lies some 110 kilometres from the coast of North Africa. A radio distress call from a refugee boat: the passengers haven’t eaten for three days and are exhausted. Lampedusa is the first port of call for African migrants looking to reach Europe. Now the tourists have all gone home, the remaining refugees would like to be taken to the mainland and the ferry that connects the island to Italy has caught fire. The mayor is trying to keep everyone calm. A lawyer from Palermo is trying to arrange a place of burial for those who have died. The local fishermen struggle to obtain a new ship from the ferry company on the mainland. When they cannot, they occupy the port as a sign of protest. In the meantime, the island is isolated. Stocks are slowly running low, and store shelves are frighteningly bare. The islanders try to describe the role of Lampedusa to the never ending stream of reporters that step by on the island. The tiny community at the edge of Europe is engaged in a desperate fight for dignity and for solidarity with those who many consider the cause of the ongoing crisis: the African boat people. Lampedusa in Winter is an uplifting cinematic experience, reassuringly complex and humane.