Juliette de Marcillac’s documentary 'Nightwatchers' follows the volunteers helping those crossing the French-Italian border and shines a light on the hypocrisies underpinning the treatment of asylum seekers.
With its rustic wooden chalets and spectacular alpine peaks, the French ski town of Montgenèvre has long been a popular holiday destination. Looking past these postcard-perfect vistas, de Marcillac’s absorbing documentary paints a very different picture, focusing instead on a humanitarian crisis that festers beneath the snow-white image of an idyllic locale.
A whirl of confusion and fear envelops the film’s startling opening sequence, which follows a group of desperate migrants trekking across the Italian border into Montgenèvre, with the hope of claiming asylum in France. Among them are pregnant women and even small children, many of whom suffer from frostbite, exhaustion and other life-threatening conditions. Their plight, however, is met only with intimidation and orders of arrest from the local police force.