When we first hear the voice of Syrian refugee Israa in the documentary “One in a Million,” she is revisiting her homeland at 21 years old, looking at the bleak, completely bombed-out ruins of buildings in Aleppo that she left behind 10 years earlier in 2015. Israa says, “Millions of people lived here. Now they’re in Turkey or Europe.” Thanks to producers, directors, and filmmakers Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes, we become intimate with and truly invested in one of those millions as they follow Israa over 10 years, across the Aegean Sea, and through multiple countries, ultimately reaching Germany.
“One In a Million,” part of Circuit Arts’ Summer Film Series, screens on August 25 at the Grange. The documentary is a deeply personal account of the external and internal effects of war and exile on one child’s life and, by extension, her family. Looking around at the ruins, Israa comments, “War is not the hardest thing a person can go through. It’s not as hard as what comes after.” This seems remarkable given the footage of her as a child, explaining, “Whenever I see blood, I remember Syria. I saw people dying. Bodies cut into pieces in front of our house. Once you see something like that, it gets stuck in your brain.”
After this introduction, Azzam and MacInnes take us back to when they first meet 11-year-old Israa and her family in Turkey. As they sell cigarettes on the street, Israa bounces about cheerily, explaining that the family will acquire some of the other items for sale, such as life jackets and rubber tubes for their perilous journey across the Aegean in a dinghy. Holding up a plastic case, Israa helpfully explains, unaware of the irony, “It’s a waterproof bag for your phone. If, God forbid, the dinghy sinks, your phone will be safe.”
The nerve-wracking footage of the boat crossing is harrowing, as are the hardships the family faces while walking endlessly from one country to the next, including Macedonia, Serbia, and Croatia, lugging their goods with them along with hundreds of other bedraggled refugees. Throughout, Israa’s indomitable spirit prevails. Azzam and MacInnes say in their directors’ statement, “She was defiant and brimming with joy, despite the horror around her. We instantly fell in love with her — and felt that her story demanded telling.”
Israa’s resilience prevails too in the early days in Germany, where she experiences greater freedom as a young girl than ever before. When trying on a hijab in 2016, Israa tells her mother emphatically that it doesn’t suit her, taking it off and tossing her head back to let her long, lush hair flow free.
The relationship between Israa and her father is central to the film. Their tender love for one another is achingly beautiful. Speaking about the missile that destroyed their apartment in Aleppo, Tarek tells us, “A shell hit the balcony of our home. Israa could have been killed.” But as Israa enters her teens, tensions mount. She balks at her father’s prohibitions against wearing makeup, learning to swim, and, certainly, any involvement with boys. “I’m happy for the kids to grow and change, but within limits. Some people here use freedom the wrong way … A family’s honor is worth everything. In Syria, blood is split over these things,” he states after claiming, “Boys here have no morals.” Tarek, who risked everything to bring his family to live in a democracy he craved, grows increasingly unhappy as the family’s new life clashes with his Arab culture, traditions, and expectations.
When Israa falls head over heels in love with Mohammed, we follow both their secret love affair and the growing tension not only between Israa and her father but also between Tarek and Israa’s mother, Nisreen. We watch Nisreen grow from an unhappy, subservient wife, trapped at home without education or autonomy, into an empowered, liberated woman. In footage of the family walking in the pouring rain during their long journey to Germany, we hear her happily exclaim, “I’m loose on the streets. I’m even sleeping on the streets! Now I have a chance to walk in the rain. I love it!”
Israa’s early adoration for her new country becomes complicated as she ages, intertwined with her struggle to determine who she is while juggling two very different lives — one at home and the other with her friends and Mohammed. “I have two faces,” she tells us. Although we hear the filmmakers’ questions before this period, it is at this point that they break the expected distance of documentarians and offer Israa overt emotional support, particularly when things get dicey with her father.
As the film spans the years, Azzam and MacInnes capture with the tenderest care the profound changes in Israa and her parents’ lives as all three grapple with identity in a land far from their original home. The film ends where it began, with Israa, a grown woman, walking through the ruins of her old neighborhood. As she looks out, reflecting on her past in Syria and her upbringing in Germany, she is unsure which country she will ultimately reside in, leaving us with a universal question: What does it truly mean to call a place home?
Asked why he selected the documentary for the Summer Film Series, Circuit Arts Executive Director Brian Ditchfield says, “I fell in love with ‘One in a Million’ when I saw it at Sundance. It’s a beautiful and compassionate film that can open hearts, deepen understanding, and inspire meaningful conversation. The fact that two of its producers are Vineyard residents makes sharing it with our community especially meaningful.”
“One in a Million” screens at 5 pm and 7:30 pm on August 25. A discussion with directors Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes, and producer Raney Aronson-Rath, will follow both screenings. For pay-what-you-can tickets, visit circuitarts.thundertix.com/events/265741.
