Synopsis

A bloody civil war has been going on in Syria since 2011. More than eleven million people had to leave their homes since the war began, more than half of which are children. “At first I thought the only problem was crossing the sea. Now that we are here, I realise we have bigger problems.” says thirteen-year-old Marwan who is one of seven children in Born in Syria who were accompanied by a camera for one year during their flight. Filming locations of their dangerous and debilitating journey were Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Not only the long foot march, the perseverance in crowded refugee camps and the waiting at closed borders while suffering from hunger and cold, were stages of this odyssey, but also the acquisition of a new language, the adults’ searches for a job and a place to live, as well as the longing to reunite with close family members. With a bag full of haunting memories of bombed houses and killed relatives, the kids soon had to recognise that after surviving the hazardous boat trip across the sea to Greece, they were still far away from reaching their destination. A very important, serious and heartfelt award-winning documentary!