“We came through hell to get here. There’s no going back.” Frontline Features has revealed the trailer for the film One in a Million, a documentary film about a Syrian refugee and their life moving to a different country. This premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival to plenty of acclaim – then stopped by tons of other fests including CPH:DOX, Sarasota, Dallas, San Francisco, Sheffield, Nantucket, Melbourne. Filmed over the course of ten years, One in a Million follows Israa from childhood to adulthood on an extraordinary journey from Syria to Germany — and back again. Co-directed by Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes, the film bears witness to the remarkable trust between filmmakers and family, following Israa and her loved ones across borders, cultures and shifting circumstances. An intimate and nuanced coming-of-age story, One in a Million illuminates the complexities of the refugee experience while asking a universal question: what does it truly mean to call a place home? We first meet her at age 11 as she and her family are preparing to cross the sea in a dinghy, risking everything in search of safety & a better life in Europe. What unfolds is a deeply personal chronicle of surviving war, exile and heartbreak. This looks like a remarkable portrait of humanity today – crossing borders and searching for a better life with all the troubles and challenges that this brings.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Itab Azzam & Jack Macinnes’ doc One in a Million, from YouTube:
Filmed over ten years, One in a Million follows Israa from childhood to adulthood on an extraordinary journey from Syria to Germany — and back again. We first meet her at age 11 as she and her family are preparing to cross the Aegean Sea, risking everything in search of safety and a better life in Europe. What unfolds is a deeply personal chronicle of war, exile and even heartbreak, as Israa begins to grow up while navigating adolescence, identity and belonging far from the home she was forced to leave. As Israa settles into life in Germany, new freedoms collide with the stabilizing pull of Syrian traditions, testing bonds and reshaping her sense of self. One in a Million is a documentary film co-directed by filmmakers Itab Azzam (We Are Not Princesses) & Jack MacInness (Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, Two Sisters One Body, Our Cops in the North, Leaving Afghanistan, Surviving Black Hawk Down). Produced by Raney Aronson-Rath, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer. This initially premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and also played at CPH:DOX & Thessaloniki. Frontline Features debuts this doc One in a Million in select US theaters starting on October 21st, 2026 this fall. For more info, visit their official IG.
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