'Frontline: Exodus, The Journey Continues'
(DVD / PG / 2018 / PBS)
Overview: The intimate stories of refugees and migrants, caught in Europe's tightened borders. Amid the ongoing migration crisis, the film follows personal journeys over two years, as countries become less welcoming to those seeking refuge.
DVD Verdict: Over one-and-a-half million refugees and migrants have smuggled themselves to the West since 2015, fleeing countries besieged by violence and poverty in search of safety and a better life.
But as 'Exodus: The Journey Continues' explores, the countries they dreamed of reaching have changed. A quite revealing sequel to Frontline's 2016 documentary 'Exodus', it tells the intimate, first hand stories of refugees and migrants caught in Europe's tightened borders, and facing heightened nationalism and rising anti-immigrant sentiment.
The desperation of such refugees and migrants has become a familiar element of news bulletins, but what is different about 'Frontline: Exodus, The Journey Continues' is the way the documentary is pieced together - quite literally through the hands and eyes of those suffering.
Nothing is ever rushed through, nothing is ever overlooked, their plight as important a tale to tell as it is to document for the worlds political platforms.
To my mind, for too long Europe has closed its eyes to Syria’s foul and bloody civil war, and tried to keep the suffering multitudes out. Suddenly the continent’s gates have been pushed open by two political forces.
One is moral conscience, belatedly wakened by the image of a drowned Syrian child on a Turkish beach. The other is the political courage of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who told her people to set aside their fear of immigrants and show compassion to the needy.
Europe should welcome more refugees and economic migrants—for the sake of the world and itself.
Regardless, and as the global migration and refugee crisis continues and countries become less welcoming to those seeking refuge, this documentary is an eye-opening look at the evolving crisis that draws on footage filmed by the refugees themselves. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.
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