ART OF FLIGHT International Documentary Competition

This intimate and raw guerilla documentary, shot secretly in Egypt, tells the tale of refugees fleeing Sudan’s bloody 20-year civil war. They hope that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will help them relocate to another country. Unfortunately, only 20 percent make it beyond Cairo. The rest languish in Egypt, where their illegal status does not permit them to work or send their children to school.

The story follows three people: our filmmaker and journalist Davin Hutchins, who we see overcoming the many obstacles he faces in telling the story; Jere Maluk, a refugee who has to find his way through bureaucratic red tape and mismanagement at UNHCR in hopes of getting resettled to America; and Magda; a human rights activist who elects not to apply for refugee status because she is convinced she will one day return to a peaceful Sudan. For very different reasons, the trio has found themselves struggling to survive in Egypt, which has reluctantly become their temporary home.

As we watch all of them struggle to carve out their path, this intense film keeps you immersed in the story while delving into questions about the nature of charity, the consequences of American empire, the price of transience, and, ultimately, freedom itself.