Sixteen-year-old Soraya has never experienced a normal teenage life. Instead of going to school and spending time with her friends, she has been trying to find a way out of Iran for five years so that she can join her mother in Austria. The journey is dangerous, as every attempt at an illegal border crossing means risking her life. She pours her fears, pain, and hope into drawings and sculptures, centred around her alter ego – a sad clown. Always by her side is a cute animated fox, her protector. Soraya filmed the documentary entirely on her phone, and the resulting intimate self-portrait reveals in a poignant and poetic way how art can become a source of strength in life's hardest trials.
Let this film take you to the crossroads of art and war!
»For me, art is not entertainment or just a profession; it feels more like a meaning for life itself. /…/ I think making this film helped me not completely lose hope during some of the hardest periods of my life. Little by little, the camera became like a friend to me – something I could speak to and share my emotions with, especially during moments when I could not fully express myself to other people. Part of me wanted to see myself alive, successful, and in a safe place by the end of the film. The film became an image of a future that I had not reached yet, but wanted to believe could exist. Of course, even without a camera I still would have gone through this difficult path. But the film gave meaning to that journey and made it a little easier to carry.«
– Soraya Akhalghi
»I understand Soraya and her pain over losing her home, as we share that experience. Watching the film made me reconnect with the feelings that come with leaving behind everything you hold dear. Our stories are different in many ways, but the pain and fear of uncertainty are universal. I was deeply moved by how Soraya expresses her inner world through drawings and sculptures. It’s a language of pain, hope, and resilience."
– Viktoria Nesmeianova, 11th Kinotrip Young Programmer
»The film made me feel immensely sad and angry at the same time. I felt helpless and guilty. I was already aware that the world is very unkind to migrants, but these recordings exposed its utter cruelty and injustice. I hope as many people as possible watch this film and realise that all migrants want is a chance at a dignified life."
– Lana Gale, 11th Kinotrip Young Programmer
»Not merely decorative, the animations serve as an illuminating expansion of the subject’s vivid and distinctive worldview.«
– Guy Lodge, Variety
»Framing herself in often remarkably clean compositions, she’s not presented as a vessel for our sympathy. /…/She’s an agent of her own survival and freedom.«
– Nicolas Rapold, International documentary association