INFERNO – Climate Crisis in the Mediterranean

Sep 5, 2026

INFERNO - Climate Crisis in the Mediterranean

In the world’s second fastest warming region after the Arctic, INFERNO connects the dots across seven Mediterranean countries to reveal one shared emergency behind isolated headlines—and the system that continues to fuel it.
More
85 & 53 min
2026
4K
Environment | Europe
Directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos
Broadcast on ARTE as: S.O.S. Mittelmeer (Germany) / La Méditerranée en feu (France)

INFERNO - Climate Crisis in the Mediterranean

In the world’s second fastest warming region after the Arctic, INFERNO connects the dots across seven Mediterranean countries to reveal one shared emergency behind isolated headlines—and the system that continues to fuel it.
More
85 & 53 min     2026     4K
Environment | Europe
Directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos

SYNOPSIS

The Mediterranean is the second fastest-warming region in the world, after the Arctic. It is warming 20% faster than the global average. Droughts, floods, wildfires, rising sea levels, desertification and invasive fish species are rapidly transforming the region, its ecosystems and the lives of its people.

Inferno documents this transformation across seven Mediterranean countries. A nomad in Morocco, a Cypriot fisherman, a Greek herder, an Egyptian farmer, a Spanish mango grower and many others together reveal the bigger picture: how local disasters form part of a broader, interconnected crisis affecting the present and future of the region’s 500 million inhabitants.

Scientifically grounded and deeply human, Inferno is not a documentary about extreme weather events. Through the stories of its protagonists, stories of loss, but also of resilience, the film explores the deeper causes of the crisis, raising urgent questions about the doctrine of perpetual growth that built the modern world and is now pushing nature to its limits. Through powerful imagery, expert analysis and striking moments of raw human arrogance, it asks whether the much-vaunted “adaptation strategies” are enough, or whether they are merely empty words, a makeshift bandage over a systemic wound bleeding everywhere.

Inferno makes tangible what scientists have been warning us about for years: the climate crisis is already here, it is unfolding faster than many had imagined, and the choices we make today will determine whether the damage we have caused can still be contained.

Watch the Trailer
NOMINATEDPrix EuropaBerlin, Germany 2026

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

There are no upcoming screenings at the moment. Stay tuned for new dates.

There are no past screenings in the archive.

REVIEWS

“S.O.S. Mittelmeer is an ecologically and politically incisive documentary that delivers its argument neither in a loud, alarmist tone nor polemically. Instead, it develops its case through a wealth of individual realities discovered across the Mediterranean and documented with compelling clarity.”
Christian Bartels

epd medien

“The absence of the ‘constructive’ approach now common in documentaries on Germany’s major television channels—the expectation that convincing solutions must always be presented—only heightens the film’s impact. […] Everyone interested in the Mediterranean, or planning to travel there this summer, should see it.”
Christian Bartels

epd medien

“The particular strength of Yorgos Avgeropoulos’s S.O.S. Mittelmeer lies in its encounters with the people directly affected. The film tells of the often drastic consequences of climate change—consequences that can already be seen and felt.”
Hans Czerny

Prisma / teleschau

“S.O.S. Mittelmeer was a call to action: uncomfortable, but extremely important. The Mediterranean is currently the second-fastest warming region—with devastating consequences. From Morocco, Cyprus and Greece to Sicily, Ibiza and Málaga, the film constantly shifted its focus, but always with great leaps in location. It addressed diverse problems, from water scarcity, desertification and tourism to competition over water, invasive tropical species and the warming of the sea, showing their direct impact on the population. Its connection to local people made these global issues tangible.”
General-Anzeiger

“La Méditerranée en feu sounds the alarm. In this decidedly bleak documentary, Greek director Yorgos Avgeropoulos gathers the testimonies of people from seven Mediterranean countries. All are confronted with the devastation of climate change caused by decades of pursuing infinite growth. An insatiable system that we have been unable to rein in, pushing us a little closer to the brink every day.”
Ouest-France

“Between observation and a call to action, the documentary travels through seven Mediterranean countries, where the transformations are now happening so rapidly that they can be perceived within a single human lifetime. The film reveals the scale of the disaster already unfolding across the region, as ancestral ways of life are being called into question and entire ecosystems are being transformed.”
Réforme

“In this eye-opening documentary, Greek journalist Yorgos Avgeropoulos highlights the irresponsibility of the countries bordering the Mediterranean in the face of the ecological crisis. […] Climatologists, people affected by climate disruption and environmentalists speak to Yorgos Avgeropoulos. The Greek journalist documented over many years the evolution of this human-caused climate devastation.”
L’Humanité

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MAIN CREDITS

Written & Directed By: YORGOS AVGEROPOULOS

Producers: ANASTASIA SKOUBRI AND YORGOS AVGEROPOULOS

Commissioning Editors: JUTTA KRUG (WDR), MENOS DELIOTZAKIS (ERT), ANAS ABDEL WAHAB (AJD)

Music: YIANNIS PAXEVANIS

Directors of Photography: YIANNIS AVGEROPOULOS, THEOFILOS DADIS, RUBÉN GARCÍA, SHADY FIKRY, KOSTIS NIKOLOPOULOS

Editing: ALEXANDRA VERYKOKKOU, RACHEL KALANTZOPOULOU

Field Producers & Research: YORGOS AVGEROPOULOS, FENIA CHALA, EIRINI CHRYSOCHERIS, MARC FERRÁ

Production Management: ANASTASIA SKOUBRI

Production Assistant: ARISTEA KOKKINEA MAMIDAKI

Fixers: CLAIRE ROBISCHE (FRANCE), MOHAMED AHMED ALI (EGYPT)

Motion Graphics: VASILIS MAGOS

Color Grading: SOFOKLIS BIBIS

Sound Mixing: ALEXANDRA VERYKOKKOU, RACHEL KALANTZOPOULOU

Additional Videographers: PANAGIOTIS PRAGIANNIS, GIORGOS SANTAMOURIS, KONSTANTINOS BOURLIS, NIKOS SARANTOS, ALFONSO BEATO

Additional Texts: FENIA CHALA

Additional Editing: KOSTAS CHRISTAKOPOULOS

Additional Field Production: JANINE LOULOUDI, FANI KALATHAKI

Sound Mastering: YIANNIS PAXEVANIS

Musicians: YIANNIS PAXEVANIS, KEYBOARDS & LOOPS, BASS, GUITARS, ARRANGEMENTS | SPYROS LOUKOS, PIANO, MELODICA & KEYBOARDS | PANOS DIMITRAKOPOULOS, KANUN | NIKOS PAPAIOANNOU, CELLO, LAFTA, BASS | FOTIS SIOTAS, VIOLIN & VIOLA

Accounting Services: KATERINA GEORGOPOULOU, ACBS IKE

Legal Services: CHRISTINA PIGAKI

Translations: SANTI AYUBI (ARABIC), OLIVIER FARNOLE (FRENCH), GIAMBARRESI LUCA GIUSEPPE (ITALIAN), M’BAREK O & SIMO AIT SALM (TAMAZIGHT)

Archive Footage: VIORY – DARPO VISION FZ LLC, IDEAL IMAGES – SCARDOVARI LAGOON – FOOTAGE BY AFPTV VIA GETTY IMAGES, ANA-MPA – CAMERA KOSTAS SOROVOS – SIGNING OF THE BLOCK 2 EXPLORATION DRILLING CONTRACT IN THE IOANIAN SEA, VAGGELIS LOUKISAS – ANDROS FILM CLUB – LITANY IN ANDROS, LEONIDAS STAVROU – UNDERWATER FOOTAGE OF ALIEN FISH SPECIES, ARTLIST – STOCK FOOTAGE, SAVVAS KARAMANIOLAS – EVRIDIKI BERSI  – EXCERPTS FROM THE VIDEO “OIL & WATER”, SMALLPLANET PRODUCTIONS

Special Thanks: PARASKEVI KARACHLE (HELLENIC CENTRE FOR MARINE RESEARCH), PETROS DIMITROPOULOS (ANA-MPA), VAGGELIS VARDOULAKIS (ANA-MPA), ATHANASIOS PSAROPOULOS (PRESIDENT PANHELLENIC ASSOCIATION OF CONTRACT FIREFIGHTERS), SOFIA TAVANTZOPOULOU (SEASONAL FIREFIGHTER), KATERINA CHRISOFILIDOU (ERT JOUNRALIST), YANNIS KOLIGLIATIS (INA TV), HANNA ABU SAADA, VENIZELOS LEVENTOGIANNIS (MEGA TV).