AGÀPE

Italy | 2023 | 60 min

“I believe love is the only form of resistance to which people cling to while they are still there, waiting to arrive.” These are the words pronounced by one of the interviewees in this dry but throbbing documentary, an intimate weaving of stories told by those who emigrate to Europe. At its centre, as per the title, is “the highest form of love, charity.” The testimonies in the film were collected 2020 through 2023 in the isle of Lesbo, the Republic of Cyprus, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, some of the first ports of call. What emerges firmly from this love map is that love is a political force, because it is a motive power, and it defines genealogies of affection, proximity or distance relationships, and mutual care alliances. Therefore, love is something that generates community, whereas the lack of love generates political emptiness, as the final images show, in a cruel reverse shot that questions everyone. (t.p.)