>> NEARLY 2 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE RESUME, SYRIA IS ENTERING A NEW CHAPTER AND FOR THE MILLIONS OF REFUGEES WHO FLED DURING THE WAR, THE CHALLENGE IS NOT JUST RETURNING HOME BUT IT'S FINDING THEIR PLACE IN THE COUNTRY IT HAS BECOME, AND IT'S THE QUESTION AT THE HEART OF A NEW DOCUMENTARY, ONE IN 1 MILLION, IT CHRONICLES A GIRL'S LIFE FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD SHE ESCAPES ALEPPO AND RETURNS TO HER HOMELAND.

>> [ INDISCERNIBLE -LOW VOLUME ] >> IT TOOK FILMMAKERS ITAB AZZAM AND JACK MacINNES TO MAKE.

THE STORY WHICH IS ABOUT DISPLACEMENT, BELONGING AND IDENTITY.

>> CHRISTIANE, THANKS.

THANKS FOR JOINING US.

THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL FILM AND LET'S START AT THE BEGINNING HERE.

IT KIND OF STARTS IN THIS TOWN SQUARE IN TURKEY, AND IT'S THIS YOUNG GIRL SELLING CIGARETTES.

HOW DID YOU EVEN FIND HER IN THE FIRST PLACE?

WHAT STOOD OUT ABOUT HER?

>> WELL, WE WENT TO TURKEY AND 2015 , I AM SYRIAN MYSELF AND I WANTED TO MAKE A FILM ABOUT SYRIAN REFUGEES.

AND WE WENT TO TURKEY TO THIS SQUARE WHERE IT'S LIKE AHAB WHERE REFUGEES DO DEALS, BASICALLY, AND WE SPENT TWO WEEKS THERE AND WE MET OTHER FAMILIES AND OTHER REFUGEES BUT SUDDENLY, OUT OF NOWHERE, WE WERE THERE WITH THE CAMERA, THE FACE OF THIS INCREDIBLE CHILD, ISRAA, SHE LOOKED AT US AND STARTED TALKING TO US, AND YEAH, WE TALKED TO HER AND HER FAMILY AND SHE WAS SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE STREET BASICALLY TO HELP FUND THE JOURNEY TO EUROPE, AND WE CONNECTED STRAIGHTAWAY AND WE KNEW THAT WE WANTED TO MAKE A FILM ABOUT HER.

>> JACK, BY THE TIME WE GET TO THE PART IN THE FILM WHERE THEY GET ON THE BOATS, OH MY GOSH, HERE YOU ARE AS A FILMMAKER, WATCHING THESE PEOPLE, AND YOU KNOW THE FACTS, YOU KNOW THAT THESE BOATS ARE CAPSIZING, YOU KNOW THAT PEOPLE ARE DROWNING.

THERE'S A REAL LEGITIMATE POSSIBILITY THAT THE PEOPLE YOU ARE FILMING TODAY MIGHT NOT MAKE IT.

>> YEAH, IT WAS HARROWING, WHILE WE WERE IN THAT SQUARE, THE PICTURE OF CODY WHO WAS THE CHILD WHO WASHED UP ON THE TURKISH COASTLINE, DIED, AND THE FAMILY WERE AWARE OF THAT AND WE WERE AWARE OF THAT AS WE WERE FILMING.

AS YOU SAY, WE WERE IN THE MIDST OF THE SQUARE, NOT ONLY WITH THESE SMUGGLING GANGS OPERATING AND PEOPLE WERE ALSO SELLING THINGS TO REFUGEES AS LIFE AIDS, THAT IF ANYTHING WERE GOING TO BRING THEM DOWN, THAT THEY WEREN'T UP TO TASK.

IT WAS SO HARD TO GET YOUR HEAD AROUND THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE HORROR OF THAT AND WHAT WAS HAPPENING, AND THE FACT THAT THIS WAS ALMOST LIKE, YOU KNOW, A CENTRAL STATION WHERE PEOPLE WERE JUST GETTING TOGETHER AND WERE SO MATTER-OF-FACT ABOUT IT, TAKING THESE JOURNEYS.

AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE FOUND IN ISRAA , SHE WAS IN AN ENORMOUS PERIL BECAUSE SHE WAS ABOUT TO TAKE THIS JOURNEY AND SHE WAS DOING SOMETHING ILLEGAL IN THE STREET SELLING AND THE POLICE WERE BRUTALIZING THE REFUGEES WHO WERE DOING THAT, AND SHE WAS HUGELY VULNERABLE AS A SMALL CHILD IN THIS CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD THAT SHE FOUND HERSELF IN AND YET, SHE WAS SO DEFINED, SO BALL THE AND SHE WAS DOING WHAT CHILDREN DO, TREATING IT AS A GAME.

>> THEIR CELL PHONE CLIPS OF THE ACTUAL CROSSING, HOW DID THE FAMILY DESCRIBE THAT CROSSING TO YOU?

BECAUSE WE SEE A BOAT WITH WAY MORE PEOPLE THEN SHOULD BE ON IT.

>> IT'S THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES.

IT'S A FAMILY, 16 PEOPLE AND THEY WERE FIVE YOUNG CHILDREN AMONGST THEM AND THEY ARE IN A DINGHY THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR 12 PEOPLE AND THERE WERE ABOUT 80 PEOPLE.

THEY WERE ON THE WATER FOR THREE AND HALF HOURS.

THEY HAD NO SENSE OF WHERE THEY WERE GOING, THE SMUGGLER DROPS THEM OFF ON THE BEACH, PUTS THEM IN THIS BOAT, GIVES ONE OF THE OTHER REFUGEES A FIVE MINUTE TUTORIAL ON HOW TO DRIVE THE BOAT AND SAYS GREECE IS THAT WAY.

WE HAD NO IDEA IF THEY WERE GOING TO SURVIVE.

SO WE TOOK A $20 BOAT FROM TURKEY TO GREECE AND WAITED IN A TAURUS HOTEL TO SEE IF THESE PEOPLE WERE GOING TO DIE AND THAT IS THE ABSURDITY AND THE HORROR OF WHAT WAS GOING ON AT THAT TIME AND IT STILL GOING ON.

[ SPEAKING IN A GLOBAL LANGUAGE ] >> IT'S NOT A SPOILER TO GIVE AWAY THE FACT THAT THEY MAKE IT ACROSS BUT WHAT WAS FASCINATING WAS EARLY IN THE FILM, THIS YOUNG WOMAN TELLS YOU THAT YOU KNOW, THE HARDEST THING IS REALLY , WAR IS NOT THE HARDEST THING WE CAN GO THROUGH, IT'S REALLY WHAT COMES AFTER, WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THEY MAKE IT TO WHAT THEY THINK IS THE PROMISED LAND, EUROPE, A NEW START, THEY DON'T HAVE TO LIVE UNDER THE FEAR OF BOMBS, AND DYING ON THE STREETS, BUT WHAT COULD BE HARDER THAN THAT, AND YOUR STORY REALLY JUST STARTS TO SHOW YOU IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE, IT'S NOT MILK AND HONEY AND THE STREETS PAVED WITH GOLD.

>> I GUESS PEOPLE THINK WHEN PEOPLE REACH SAFETY, THAT'S JUST NOT THE CASE, THE EXPERIENCE OF DISPLACEMENT IS THE HARDEST THING.

AND IT'S A LIFELONG, YOU KNOW, PROCESS TO KIND OF FIND YOUR PLACE IN THIS NEW PLACE THAT YOU ARRIVED IN AND FIND YOUR IDENTITY AND BELONGING, AND ADAPT AND INTEGRATE AND ALL OF THAT, AND ALSO LIKE, IT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CULTURE FROM THE CULTURE THAT YOU LEFT, AND ENABLE TO BELONG, YOU NEED TO GET USED TO THIS NEW TRADITION AND THE LAWS AND EVERYTHING, AND THAT'S HARD AND WE SAW IT IN THE FAMILY, HOW LIKE EACH ONE OF THEM, THAT PROCESS OF INTEGRATION KIND OF BROKE THEM IN THEIR DIFFERENT WAYS AND IT TOOK THEM A LONG TIME TO KIND OF FIND THEMSELVES, I GUESS.

>> IT'S ALMOST LIKE IT WAS SORT OF LIKE BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, WHERE FREEDOM, IT MEANS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THING , AND SOME PARTS OF IT ARE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE NORMAL TEENAGE REBELLION HOW ANY DAUGHTER MIGHT FEEL ABOUT HER FATHER, BUT IT WAS REALLY POIGNANT BECAUSE YOU SEE THESE WOMEN DEVELOPING THEIR OWN SENSES OF SELF.

>> THE MOTHER, BACK IN SYRIA, THEY COME FROM A VERY CONSERVATIVE BACKGROUND AND SHE WAS ONLY ALLOWED TO SEE HER PARENTS HOUSE, SHE ONLY KNEW THAT STREET AND ALEPPO THAT SHE LIVED IN.

SHE WASN'T ALLOWED TO GO TO SCHOOL, SO SHE DOESN'T READ OR WRITE AND THE FIRST TWO WEEKS AFTER WE MET THEM, WE DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING FROM HER AND SUDDENLY WE WERE CROSSING THE CROATIAN BORDER IN FREEZING CONDITIONS, MUDDY, WE WERE THERE FOR HOURS AND SHE LOOKS AT US AND SAYS, THIS IS FREEDOM, THIS IS INCREDIBLE FOR ME, AND WHEN SHE ARRIVED IN GERMANY SHE STARTED TO LEARN ABOUT WOMEN'S RIGHTS, SHE NEVER HEARD THAT TERM BEFORE AND FEMINISM, YOU LIVE IN A COUNTRY THAT PROTECTS WOMEN AND PROTECTS MOTHERS AND SUDDENLY, THAT'S WHAT SHE LOOKS FOR, FOR ALL HER LIFE, FREEDOM, THE RIGHT TO LIVE HER LIFE WITHOUT ABUSE AND TO HAVE HER CHOICES SO THAT'S WHERE SHE WENT AND IT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY FOR ISRAA, SHE WENT THROUGH WAR, SHE GREW UP, SHE WASN'T ALLOWED TO BE A CHILD AND SHE WENT TO THAT JOURNEY AND SHE WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD FOR LOVE AND BELONGING AND STABILITY AND COMMUNITY AND THAT'S WHY SHE WENT A DIFFERENT WAY.

>> JACK, THERE'S A MOMENT IN THE FILM WHERE YOU BREAK THE FOURTH WALL, AND IT'S A POIGNANT MOMENT WELL ISRAA IS CRYING AND YOU ASK HER ABOUT HER FAMILY LIFE AND WHAT'S HAPPENING AT HOME AND, YOU KNOW, HOW HARD WAS IT , YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING AND YOU ARE WATCHING THIS PERSON, YES, IT'S A DOCUMENTARY AND THEY ARE YOUR SUBJECT BUT BUT THERE'S SOME SORT OF RESPONSIBILITY THAT YOU HAVE IF SOMEONE TELLS YOU ABOUT SOMETHING REALLY TRAUMATIC AND VERY PAINFUL AND PERSONAL.

>> IT WAS HEARTBREAKING WE COULD SENSE THE TENSION IN THE FAMILY AND WE HAD BEEN SENSING THAT FOR A WHILE THAT ISRAA HAD BEEN CHAFING AT THE RESTRICTIONS THAT HER FATHER WAS PUTTING ON AND WE WERE JUST CHATTING I WAS TALKING TO HER ABOUT THAT AND SOMETHING CLICKED IN HER AND SHE JUST COULDN'T, SHE COULDN'T KEEP UP THE FACADE ANYMORE AND THAT'S WHEN SHE TOLD US THAT HER FATHER HAD BEEN BEATING HER.

AND IT WAS, IT WAS A HUGE SHOCK TO HEAR BECAUSE WE HAD INVESTED SO MUCH IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP.

WE LEFT HIM AND WE LOVED HER AND TO SEE THIS HAPPEN AND FOR THIS, YOU KNOW, IT SUDDENLY MADE SENSE, EVERYTHING SHE WAS TELLING US.

THE REASON THIS FILM WORKS WAS THAT OUR FUNDAMENTAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HER, WE FELT LIKE A MEMBER OF HER FAMILY, REALLY, AND AND IT'S HARD TO KEEP FILMING AT THAT MOMENT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO STEP IN AND YOU GET A FLAVOR OF IT WHERE I DO STEP IN, AND I START TALKING TO HER ABOUT THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO HER IN TERMS OF WHO SHE CAN TALK TO ABOUT THIS AND WE ALSO TALKED TO HER MOTHER, WHO WAS ADAMANT THAT SHE WANTED TO ADDRESS IT AND DEAL WITH IT HERSELF.

>> YOU ARE LOOKING AT ONE SPECIFIC FAMILY BUT, I THINK A LOT OF MEMBERS OF THE AUDIENCE, WHETHER THEY ARE REFUGEES OR NOT, THEY START TO SEE THEMSELVES IN THESE DIFFERENT CHARACTERS, EVERYBODY HAS A MIGRATION STORY SOMEWHERE IN THEIR HISTORY AND WHEN YOU SIT WITH THAT AND YOU SAY, THIS IS REALLY A MUCH MORE UNIVERSAL STORY, YOU FIGURED OUT A WAY TO DO THIS WITH JUST ONE FAMILY AND THIS ONE PARTICULAR PATCH OF THEIR LIVES.

WHEN DID YOU FIGURE OUT, OKAY, THERE IS A NATURAL LAND TO THIS BECAUSE YOU COULD CHECK IN WITH ISRAA ANOTHER 10 YEARS FROM NOW AND SEE WHERE HER LIFE IS , RIGHT, JACK?

>> IT EVOLVED FOR US THAT WE WERE MAKING A FILM ABOUT THE SYRIAN EXPERIENCE, THE CRISIS, AND THE MORE WE GOT TO THE END OF THIS, THE MORE WE REALIZED WE WERE MAKING A FILM ABOUT SOMETHING QUITE FUNDAMENTAL WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, PARENTHOOD, CHILDHOOD, GROWING UP AND HOW THAT IS AFFECTED BY SOMETHING THAT IS THE REALITY FOR BILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD, SO MANY PEOPLE LISTENING TO THIS, SO MANY PEOPLE WE HAVE TALKED TO.

THEY HAVE MIGRATION IN THEIR STORY SOMEWHERE OR HAVE HAD TO ADAPT TO A NEW CULTURE, AND ASKED THE QUESTION ABOUT FINDING THE END, WE DIDN'T FILM WITH ISRAA'S FATHER FOR A FEW YEARS BECAUSE IT HAD GOTTEN TOO TENSE AND DIFFICULT BETWEEN THEM.

AND WE DIDN'T FEEL LIKE THE FILM WAS OVER AND TELL THAT HAD BEEN ADDRESSED UNTIL WE HAD SOMEHOW SEEN HOW THE STORY BETWEEN THEM ENDED AND WE WERE OUT IN GERMANY, AND IT WAS ON THAT DAY WE WERE ON THE TRAIN FROM LONDON TO GERMANY WHEN WE STARTED TO SEE ALEPPO FALL AND WE WERE SAYING TO EACH OTHER, I THINK IS GOING TO GO THIS WEEKEND AND WE WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING AND THE SYRIAN REGIME HAD FALLEN AND WE FILMED THE FALL OF THE REGIME, AND IT FELT LIKE YES, THIS IS WHAT THIS FILM HAS BEEN WAITING FOR, IT'S BEEN WAITING FOR THIS EXPERIENCE OF EXILE AND THEN SUDDENLY THE OPPORTUNITY OF GOING HOME AND SUDDENLY ALL OF THE THEMES WE HAD BEEN LOOKING INTO, ISRAA AND HER FATHER, WITH THEY RECONCILE AND A QUESTION HAD OPENED UP AGAIN WHICH WAS, COULD THEY GO BACK AND SUDDENLY THIS FELT LIKE THIS IS WHAT OUR FILM IS.

[ SPEAKING IN A GLOBAL LANGUAGE ] >> YEARS HAVE PASSED BUT, THE SCALE OF DEVASTATION IS SO PROFOUND AND THE RUBBLE THAT IS STILL ON THE GROUND AND PEOPLE ARE NAVIGATING THROUGH TO TRY TO START THEIR LIVES, AND WHAT WAS IMPORTANT ABOUT FOLLOWING ISRAA TO THIS PLACE AND LITERALLY KIND OF WATCHING HER AND HOW SHE'S FEELING THROUGH THIS?

>> I'M SYRIAN MYSELF , THROUGH THAT FILM, I FELT LIKE I WAS TRYING TO EXPRESS MY OWN EMOTIONS AND MY OWN, TRYING TO BELONG, YOU KNOW, AND SEEING SYRIA BE DESTROYED THROUGH THE YEARS AND BIT BY BIT, LOSING ANY HOPE OF RETURNING, IT WAS DEVASTATING FOR ME.

AND YOU KNOW, GOING BACK TO ALEPPO WITH HER AND SEEING THE DESTRUCTION THE POVERTY AND THE DEVASTATION, REALLY, IS REALLY HARD AND I MYSELF, AM STILL GOING THROUGH THIS KIND OF DISASTER BECAUSE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, ALSO MY FAMILY, THERE WERE ATTACKS IN MY COMMUNITY AND MY FAMILY HAD TO LEAVE HOME AND BE DISPLACED AND ALL THAT, SO THE WHOLE TIME I MAKING THIS FILM I WAS IS GOING THROUGH THE SAME EMOTION IN THE SAME KIND OF LOSS AS ISRAA.

>> WE SEE THIS STRUGGLE THAT ISRAA HAS, HER NARRATIVE ARC IN HER OWN MIND OF WHO SHE IS, WHAT HER IDENTITY IS, HOW SYRIAN SHE IS, SHE WAS VERY SPECIFICALLY PROUD OF BEING FROM ALEPPO AND YOU SEE THESE TEENAGE YEARS WHERE SHE'S JUST HAPPY TO SPEAK MORE GERMAN THAN ARABIC AND SHE'S LIKE OH, I REALLY WANT TO BE FREE AND EUROPEAN, ETC.

, AND AND THEN WE TAKE A TURN IN THE FILM WHERE HER IDENTITY IS TO GO BACK TO A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A CONSERVATIVE VERSION OF LIFE.

>> I THINK PEOPLE THINK INTEGRATION IS A KIND OF STRAIGHTFORWARD SUCCESS STORY, AND IT ISN'T.

LIKE FINDING YOUR IDENTITY AND BELONGING IS A LIFETIME OF NEGOTIATIONS, REALLY, SHE ALWAYS SAID TO ME, I WANT TO BE A DOCTOR, I WANT TO BE A LAWYER AND THAT IS WHAT I HOPE FOR HER AND AT THE BEGINNING, WHEN SHE MADE DIFFERENT CHOICES FROM WHAT I WANTED HER TO MAKE, IT WAS REALLY HARD FOR ME, HONESTLY, AS A WOMAN BECAUSE I WANTED HER TO BE SOMETHING ELSE BUT THEN I REALIZED, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR HER WAS SHE JUST WANTED TO BE HAPPY AND STABLE, SHE DID FIND THE LOVE OF HER LIFE AND SHE'S HAPPY.

SHE'S GOING BACK TO SCHOOL AND SHE WANTS TO WORK WITH THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT, SO SHE'S DOING LIKE THINGS IN REVERSE, BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S HER CHOICES.

>> JACK, I DON'T KNOW IF ISRAA HAS WATCHED THE FILM, IF SO, WHAT DOES SHE THINK ABOUT IT, WHAT HAS SHE COMMUNICATED TO THE TWO OF YOU?

>> WHEN WE PREMIERED AT SUNDANCE EARLIER THIS YEAR AND SHE CAME WITH US, WE SAT NEXT TO HER WATCHING IT, AND SHE WAS IN TEARS THROUGHOUT BUT THEY WERE SORT OF TEARS OF NOSTALGIA, BITTERSWEET TEARS, AND THINGS MADE HER LAUGH, WHEN YOU WATCH YOURSELF YOUNGER ANYTHING OH MY GOD, LOOK AT THAT HAIR , I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAD THAT SURE, ALL OF THAT STUFF WAS HAPPENING TO HER AS WELL.

AND IT WAS SO NORMAL AND IDENTIFIABLE AND I THINK SHE'S REALLY PROUD OF IT AND I THINK SHE WOULD SAY THAT IS NASH McGINNIS HELPED HER MAKE SENSE OF HER JOURNEY AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO HER, TO SHOW THE WORLD THAT YOU KNOW, MUSLIM WOMEN CAN BE STRONG, MULTIFACETED, THE VALUE OF HER FAITH, THE VALUE OF HERSELF AND SHE SAYS SHE SEES THE VALUE IN THAT.

>> ITAB AZZAM AND JACK MacINNES, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

>> THANK YOU.