Matthew Casseljournalist & documentary filmmaker
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Field of Vision · The New Yorker · 2016

The Journey

For 31-year-old Aboud, seeking asylum in Europe is the only way the Syrian father can reunite with his wife and two children. I spent one year with him on a grueling and uncertain journey from Istanbul to the Netherlands, becoming one of the pioneers of the "Balkan route."

6-part series · 2016Field of Vision · The New YorkerSubtitles: English, Spanish, French, Turkish, Greek, ArabicFilm of the Year · UN Global Migration Film Festival

A year on the Balkan route

Watch the entire six-part series with subtitles available in English, Spanish, French, Turkish, Greek, and Arabic. Aboud made four failed attempts to leave Turkey by land before risking the Aegean Sea in a rubber dinghy. From Athens, with his brother and a single mother and her two daughters in tow, he organized one of the first groups to pioneer the Balkans route without smugglers — walking for days, taking trains, illegal taxis, even bicycles, to reach final destinations in northern Europe. Aboud received asylum in the Netherlands; family reunification with Christine and the children was approved in December 2015.

Directed, produced, filmed and co-edited by
Matthew Cassel
Edited and co-produced by
Olivia Dehez
Filmed in Syria by
Simone Safieh
Executive producers
Laura Poitras, AJ Schnack and Charlotte Cook
Award
Film of the Year · UN's Global Migration Film Festival

Episodes

I.

The Journey — Part 1

In 2013, Aboud comes to Istanbul hoping to support his family in Damascus until the war ends. Unable to earn enough or to return home, he begins to look at Europe.

Field of Vision · The New Yorker
II.

The Journey — Part 2

Four failed attempts to leave Turkey by land — twice to Bulgaria, twice to Greece — before Aboud decides to risk the Aegean Sea in a rubber dinghy.

Field of Vision · The New Yorker
III.

The Journey — Part 3

"Greece is just a stopping point for the Syrians that make it here." Aboud and a group of 150 pioneer what will become the Balkan route.

Field of Vision · The New Yorker
IV.

The Journey — Part 4

Days on foot, trains, illegal taxis, even bicycles. The group walks across borders that have not been walked across in living memory.

Field of Vision · The New Yorker
V.

The Journey — Part 5

Aboud reaches the Netherlands and applies for family reunification. Months pass. In Damascus, Christine and the kids prepare to say goodbye.

Field of Vision · The New Yorker
VI.

The Journey — Part 6

Reunion at Amsterdam airport after nearly three years apart. Months later we revisit Aboud and a Europe increasingly polarized over its million new asylum-seekers.

Field of Vision · The New Yorker