C’est l’histoire d’un médecin grec qui collectionne des pendentifs et des bracelets. C’est l’histoire d’une Italienne qui se bat depuis 15 ans pour "faire parler les corps". C’est l’histoire de celles et ceux qui veillent les migrants oubliés. Selon l’Organisation Internationale pour les Migrations, 5083 personnes ont trouvé la mort en 2016 en tentant de rejoindre l’Europe par la mer. 5 083 noms, dont la grande majorité se diluent dans les eaux si bleues de la Méditerranée. Que deviennent ces morts ? Qui les nomme ? Comment font les mères, les frères, pour tenter de retrouver leurs disparus ? Numero 387 nous emmène dans cette quête de l’identité.

On April 18, 2015, a ship carrying at least 800 refugees sank off the Libyan coast. A year later, the salvaged wreck is brought to a Sicilian military base, where a forensic pathologist and her team are waiting to discover the identity of the victims. At this point, all that remains of victim #387 are remnants of clothing and decaying photographs and letters. Sim cards, soaked banknotes and a tube of toothpaste: these simple belongings have now become macabre still lifes. In this investigative documentary, others employ their own methods to identify those who died. A researcher visits cemeteries where victims are buried as numbers, and works laboriously through various archives. Meanwhile, a Red Cross worker hopes to speak to possible family members in African villages, to discover the victims’ stories and give them a name. This cinematic journey with a detective feel reveals the drudgery of humanitarian work, but above all it serves as a testament to the value of human life.