A Night in the English Channel

Every day, tiny boats packed with migrants try to cross the English Channel. Some of them sink. Some migrants drown. But one incident stands out. On the night of the 24th November 2021, a dinghy that was near the border between French and English waters when it started to sink, was able to phone the coastguard. For over three hours, the passengers repeatedly called both French and English rescue services, desperately begging for help. But help never came. At least 30 people died that night in what remains the single biggest loss of life in the English Channel. Based on the recorded telephone calls between the passengers and rescue services, this animated film reconstructs the terrifying final hours of that fatal voyage. 

“My name is Shexa, I come from Iraqi Kurdistan. I am 21 years old. I am one of the two survivors of last night’”. Through Shexa’s eyes, we experience what he and the other 32 passengers from the moment they set off. “I hope we’ll make it to the other side. There are no waves, thank God. Pray that we arrive safely.”

After three hours at sea, water starts filling the boat. They make the first of many calls to the coastguards. “We decide to use our phones as flashlights pointed toward the sky. Maybe the rescue boat will see us better in the night” But as their boat drifts between English and French waters and slowly sinks, the migrants are referred from one rescue service to the other. “It’s been almost an hour since the French rescue services sent a rescue boat. But where is that boat? What the hell is it doing…”

As we get caught up in Shexa’s story, we find ourselves holding our breath, desperately wishing for a different ending.