Color of the Ocean

Nathalie (Sabine Timoteo) originally just wanted to escape the freezing New Year’s Eve in Germany by traveling to Gran Canaria. But on the sun-drenched coast, she encounters a stranded refugee boat. Many of the African refugees are dead or severely weakened. She is especially moved by the fate of the refugee Zola (Hubert Koundé) and his son Mamadou (Dami Adeeri), whom she spontaneously helps. This encounter changes Nathalie’s life and brings her into conflict with her boyfriend (Friedrich Mücke), who follows her, and with the authorities. Parallel to this, the story of Spanish border guard José (Álex González) is told, who is confronted with his strict stance on refugees—even within his own family. Maggie Peren's film weaves these three perspectives into a hauntingly multi-layered drama that shows the moral dilemmas and absurdity of the juxtaposition of vacation idyll and human suffering. The thought-provoking narrative deliberately refrains from making moral judgments and instead invites the audience to ask themselves: What would I do?