What a journey!
"One in a Million" was 10 years in the making. Co-directors Itab Azam and Jack Macinnes had the idea of tracking the plight of Syrian refugees through the process of fleeing and resettling in another country.
Out of, literally, a million refugees, they discovered 10-year-old Isra, thus the title. Providing phones to the family and tracking them along their route and filming day-to-day experiences gave us insight into the tremendous difficulty these people; men, women and children survived to establish a new life.
Try to imagine watching as this beautiful, spirited child slops through mud, huddles in the cold, watches people around her die due to the conditions then finally arrives in Germany where we see the next nine years of her life as she learns the language, completes her education, adapts to the western ways of life, falls in love, marries and becomes a mother... all before our eyes.
The film's logistics were monumental, including the time commitment of the project. It will be shown in Germany and hopefully will make them proud of their country for playing a role in saving many lives that might have been lost to the war and also be a bridge to helping build empathy where it's needed.
On the KPCW sun rating system, "One in a Million" receives five out of five suns.
