Former ambassador full of praise for Simshar’s ‘examination of conscience’

Former United States ambassador to Malta, Douglas Kmiec, has delivered a powerful endorsement for Rebecca Cremona’s movie Simshar, on the Huffington Post.

The film, hoping to earn an Oscar nomination for the foreign language category, was described by Kmiec as “a powerful source of information on the problem of irregular migration” with its depiction of the Simshar tragedy and its criss-crossing into Malta’s migration reality.

In his post, Kmiec revealed that Washington censors had red-pencilled portions of President George Abela’s essay – which he co-authored – against racial discrimination, saying the episode highlighted “how unusual it was for such a high profile public figure to make a heroic effort to deal fairly and humanely with these pioneers for freedom.”

Likewise, the State Department – which removed Kmiec from his post due for apparently veering off-script in his diplomatic duties – was highly cautious when advising him against helping Cremona finding investors for Simshar.

“That was a point well taken, and while the end result is a film of integrity, there are scenes that to me seem unduly harsh on parish priests and a bit over the top in the depiction of general animus toward migrants.

“Rebecca Cremona received a letter of endorsing reference from me, based on her enthusiasm for the study of discrimination as it exists and with my private thought and hope that her enthusiasm was matched by excellence in filmmaking. I was not disappointed.”

A committed Catholic professor law who made his political mark by supporting President Barack Obama’s election bid, Kmiec said the significant of Simshar was its focus on migration.

“Lampedusa receives the migrants which the sea does not blow ashore to neighbouring Malta. Yet, the overbooked migrant-laden vessels do not always make it to either land. [Pope] Francis aptly noted that when the immigrants die in transit, a boat that had represented hope ‘becomes a vehicle of death’. The frequency of death is huge and it is conceivable that someone’s dreams hit ocean’s bottom even before you can finish reading this.”

“Neither Rebecca Cremona nor the Pope portray our duty to ‘the other’ as easy. Without the movie’s thought-provoking global examination of conscience, however, it would have been impossible. The potential for its fulfillment likely sank in the Maltese heart with the sinking of the Simshar. In this, Simshar, the movie is something of a resurrection, since it reveals to the audience those we cannot ignore.”