Based on the extraordinary true story of Syrian Hassan Al Kontar’s refugee journey to Canada.
Quote
Hassan Al Kontar’s powerful account of a journey propelled by dreams, family, escape, discrimination, imprisonment, injustice, perseverance and survival lays bare many of the deepest failings in our world. It is also a remarkable tale of courage, determination, and triumph. –Alex Neve, Former Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada.
Synopsis
In the spring of 2011 Hassan Al Kontar is an idealistic young Syrian man working at his first job away from home, in the United Arab Emirates. When war begins in his homeland, all Syrian men are required to support the dictator’s army. Hassan, driven by a deep sense of morality, refuses to fight against his own people.
This choice to live according to his humanitarian ideals leads inexorably to the loss of his passport, his legal status, his job, and then his housing. After five years of homelessness, living on the streets, Hassan is deported from the UAE. He ends up in legal limbo in an airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has no idea that he will be stuck in the airport, sleeping on the floor, for seven months.
During these long months of waiting, fear, nightly interrogations, and eventual imprisonment, Hassan finds his purpose in life. With nothing but his own intelligence and determination to rely on, he decides to use the power of social media to speak up for his human rights and for those of all refugees. With his quick sardonic sense of humour he finds the absurdities in his situation, reminding himself as well as others of his continuing
humanity. Among the many from around the world who respond to him are two Canadians who will become vital to his future.
Hassan’s extraordinary ability to connect with people leads to his becoming a viral sensation. But in this process he will find out what happens when one lone stateless man confronts international governments and the refugee system, while the whole world watches online.