#MyEscape

#MyEscape is a powerful and heart-wrenching documentary released in 2016. Directed by Elke Sasse, this film gives an unpolished glimpse into the harrowing journeys undertaken by refugees as they seek life away from the horrors of war, violence, and destitution in their homeland. This eye-opening masterpiece is a combination of user-generated content, interviews, and retellings, bringing the plight of these refugees onto a global platform.

#MyEscape documents the trek of people from countries torn apart by war, relentless violence, and inescapable poverty, such as Afghanistan, Syria, and Eritrea. However, instead of using a traditional documentary crew, the film takes a strikingly modern approach, stitching together a variety of smartphone videos taken by the refugees themselves. These videos, filmed during their teeth-clenching journey to Europe, are raw, personal, and lay bare the stark realities of the world's massive migration crisis.

The film takes its audience on a journey spanning multiple continents, dizzingly dangerous paths, brackish waters, and unforgiving terrains. The first-hand perspective offers a glimpse into their journeys through often-barren landscapes, bustling cities, and across dangerous seas. It unwinds a multitude of emotions—despair, anxiety, hope, and joy. All these sequences are punctuated by interviews with the film's subjects, who look back on their experiences with a mixture of relief at having escaped, and trauma from the journey they endured.

#MyEscape doesn’t sugarcoat the refugee experience, allowing the audience to see everything from the jubilation of setting off from their war-torn countries to the fear and uncertainty that sets in as the journey progresses. There’s no attempt to manipulate the situation with dramatic music or staged scenes - the film relies on the stark reality of what's happening on the screen. Sasse ensures that the experience remains entirely authentic.

An interesting feature of this film is its lack of a narrator. Identified only by their first names, the refugees speak for themselves, sharing their stories in their native languages, including Arabic, English, and Tigrinya. Their voices, filled with fear, courage, and determination, carry the narrative. The individual accounts serve as poignant reminders of the human struggle for survival and dignity, making the audience see past the blur of faceless numbers often reported in the media.

The film does not step back from showing the grim realities of the journey. The dire situations they are fleeing from are given full attention - from life-threatening peril on rickety boats to the disorientation upon reaching the crowded streets of a foreign land. These depictions serve as a jarring contrast to the safe lives of the viewers, evoking empathy not easily forgotten.

#MyEscape is an intense viewing experience, reflective of the unfathomable courage of ordinary people pushed to extraordinary lengths. Through focusing on the refugees' personal experience, it aims to present the raw faces and voices beneath the rooftop of the term 'refugee', humanizing a global crisis that is too often debated purely in abstractions and statistics.

Sasse’s #MyEscape is a reminder of how technology has changed the landscape of storytelling. In an age where everyone with a smartphone can be both a filmmaker and an eyewitness, the documentary encapsulates the realism of a situation in a way that few other mediums can manage. It stands as a paradigm of the new-age storytelling potential that lies beneath global issues and advocacy films.

#MyEscape does not merely present the refugee crisis to its audience; it demands viewers witness it. The film invites audiences to expand their perspective, urging them to empathize with the human struggles it portrayed. Although it's an intense and often uncomfortable viewing experience, the insight offered makes it an invaluable watch.

In conclusion, #MyEscape is a profound exploration of human perseverance and courage in the face of unimaginable adversity. The documentary’s brilliance lies in its simplicity, its authenticity, and above all, the undeniable rawness that clings to every second of footage. By using the refugees' own footage from their cellphone cameras, #MyEscape makes a poignant statement - there's nothing more powerful than a lived reality to open eyes and change hearts.