Every day, hundreds and even thousands of people risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea in a desperate search for security, stability and a better future. For German midwife Anne-Katrin, joining the crew of a humanitarian rescue vessel is one way to help the most vulnerable among them, namely women and children. Working alongside a crew of primarily European women, Anne-Katrin learns the rhythm of life aboard the boat, spending long days and nights at sea searching for shipwrecked migrants. Her routine shifts dramatically when the rescuers encounter more than one hundred people in distress, among them pregnant women. By interweaving observational moments of Anne-Katrin’s mission with the harrowing stories of five female survivors transformed into artistic moments of powerful testimony, Where the Waves Took Her presents a distinctly gendered perspective on an ongoing catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Aisha Jamal