One in a Million Is a Stunning Real-Life Refugee Epic

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Filmmakers Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes met Israa, the focus of their documentary One in a Million, when she was just 11 years old. Israa was selling cigarettes on the streets of Izmir, Turkey, to help her family earn money after they fled the Syrian Civil War. Their home in Aleppo had been destroyed by a missile, and they were trying to reach Germany by traveling across the Aegean Sea to Greece. The filmmakers decided to document Israa and her family’s difficult journey by foot, bus, boat, and train in 2015, during the height of the refugee crisis. While One in a Million (premiering at Sundance) powerfully shows Israa’s travels, the film truly shines after the family reaches Cologne, Germany.

The film’s title, One in a Million, hints at both incredible luck and the overwhelming scale of displacement. While Israa and her family survived a dangerous journey – a fate many others didn’t share – it also acknowledges that they are just one family among millions uprooted by war. Directors Azzam and MacInnes, who lived in Damascus when the conflict began in 2011 and later fled to London, tell Israa’s story. Upon arriving in Cologne, the family finds a modest but welcoming home, and Israa starts school where she’s met with kindness and curiosity. But as time passes, things become more difficult. Israa feels increasingly scrutinized and begins to push back against her family, especially her father, Tarek. They were once very close, but now he seems stuck in the past and unable to adapt to their new life. The typical challenges of adolescence are amplified for Israa by the cultural differences she experiences both at home and with her peers.

Over the years, Azzam and MacInnes continued to follow Israa, Tarek, and Nisreen, documenting their lives in Cologne through regular visits and interviews. The family begins to unravel as Nisreen seeks independence from Tarek, and both she and Israa allege he has been abusive. Israa and her father grow distant, eventually ceasing communication. Meanwhile, Israa finds love with a young Syrian man named Mohammed and, surprisingly, embraces her religious roots, choosing to wear the hijab – something she had previously rejected.

Documentaries that follow people over many years often try to make broad statements about life, as if the length of the film requires a single, definitive message. However, this can reduce real people to symbols or examples, rather than treating them as individuals. One in a Million avoids this trap. The filmmakers approach Israa and her family with empathy and without judgment, acknowledging the immense complexity of being a young Syrian woman growing up in Germany after being displaced by war – a complexity that can’t be easily explained. The film also recognizes the profound impact on Israa’s parents, who were forced to leave their home country. (Nisreen points out that this journey was their first time ever leaving Syria.) Azzam and MacInnes have created a sweeping story that crosses borders, filled with remarkable footage, but what truly sets it apart is its intimate and nuanced portrayal of the challenges of adapting to a new culture. Despite the weight of history surrounding her, Israa remains the heart of the film. One in a Million uniquely succeeds in letting us get to know this young woman while still respecting the depth and mystery of her inner life.

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2026-01-24 03:54