A new documentary premiering at the Sundance Film Festival offers a decade-long perspective on the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, focusing on the personal journey of one family’s search for safety and belonging. “One In A Million” follows Israe, an eleven-year-old girl who fled Aleppo in 2015 as the civil war escalated [[3]], and her family’s subsequent experiences navigating life as refugees in Europe. The film, a blend of cinéma vérité and intimate interviews, highlights the challenges and triumphs of rebuilding a life while confronting cultural shifts and evolving familial dynamics.
As nearly one million Syrians fled the devastation of the civil war in their homeland in 2015, filmmakers Atab Azzam and Jack McKinnes embarked on a journey to Turkey seeking a human story that encapsulated the tragedy of displacement. There, they met Israe, who would become the focus of their film, “One In A Million.”
The First Encounter
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In Izmir, Turkey, the filmmakers encountered Israe, an eleven-year-old girl who had fled Aleppo with her family amidst a barrage of shelling and gunfire. She became the heart of their new documentary, “One In A Million,” which held its world premiere last Friday at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
A Decade in the Making
Over the next ten years, the film crew followed Israe and her family’s journey across Europe, as they sought a new life in Germany. Their path was filled with both promising opportunities and immense challenges that often threatened to tear the family apart.
Speaking to the festival audience in Park City, Utah, on Friday, director Jack McKinnes said, “There was something about Israe that made us feel like she embodied everything that was happening there.” He further described the film’s protagonist: “The precariousness of her situation was clear, especially as a child going through this experience, but she was also an agent. She wasn’t just sitting around waiting to be saved; she was trying to fight and make her own way.”
Struggles with Identity and Freedom
The documentary employs a style that blends cinéma vérité footage capturing events with raw spontaneity, alongside intimate personal interviews that reveal Israe’s evolving relationship with her new home (Germany), her changing perspective on her faith, and her shifting dynamic with her father.
The evolution of the relationship between father and daughter is the “emotional backbone” of the film, highlighting the tensions arising from the newfound freedoms they encountered in Europe – a concept her father struggled to adapt to and understand. The film offers a poignant look at the complexities of navigating cultural shifts and familial bonds amidst upheaval.
From Refugee Child to Mother
Ultimately, “One In A Million” showcases Israe today, a married woman and mother living in Germany. Describing the experience of watching the details of her life unfold on screen at the Park City theater, Israe called it “beautiful.”
She also noted that having the filmmakers accompany her and document every step of her growth had positive aspects, telling the audience after the screening: “I felt like it was something very special; even my friends thought I was famous, which made it easier and faster to make friends.”
The Sundance Film Festival continues through February 1.
