Evaporating Borders was reasonably well-received in its North American premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. The film was an attempt to examine the complex issues of migration in the complex cauldron that is the island nation of Cyprus. The film moves slowly through a series of vignettes of various migrants on the island. The director, Iva Radivojevic, a Bosnian immigrant herself, attempts to present the stories in a somewhat poetic manner, but it comes off as somewhat muddled, confusing and a bit disjointed. Rather than relying on a single narrative or speaking with experts who can clarify the history, the law, and the politics, the director relies on the stories and the images to speak for themselves. This technique presents a very human narrative, but one that feels a bit incomplete. The film does manage to highlight the dangerous trend of fascist anti-immigrant groups that is growing in Cyprus – as in many other parts of Europe and U.S. – but doesn't really clarify their influence or power within the political structure in Cyprus. While the film draws an important humanizing spotlight to a country that is often ignored, but it seems to leave a murky incomplete picture. There is no real effort to offer specific policy solutions to the problems that the film raises. The film feels like it is a good first effort by a student director, but one that still needs considerably more editing and reworking to be a fully complete project.
