In 1941, as Hitler’s regime tightened its grip on Europe and Vichy France, refugees and political dissidents flocked to Marseille, seeking an escape. Intellectuals, writers, artists, and ordinary people—both Jewish and non-Jewish—found themselves in hotel rooms or internment camps, desperate to flee. Their goal was America, via the French colony of Martinique, but the path was fraught with endless bureaucratic hurdles. The urgency was palpable; the sea represented the last legal route out of Europe, the final hope for survival.

Though no films document this perilous journey, a few photographs and the writings of those who lived through it help imagine this odyssey. Director Jérôme Prieur brings their stories to life, recounting the experiences of those who were fortunate enough to make it onto the few ships crossing the Atlantic. These exiles, some famous and others forgotten, endured a harrowing voyage followed by confinement in the Lazaret and Balata camps near Fort-de-France. Through their letters, they shared the untold stories of those left behind.