A Great Trip to a Small Country
(El gran viaje al país pequeño)
Mariana Viñoles | Documentary
2019 | 106 minutes | Uruguay, Syria
Late Uruguayan president José Mujica opened doors to Syrian refugees in this account of forced migration, dislocation, and political idealism.
Synopsis
"A Great Trip to a Small Country" offers a compelling, human-centered account of forced migration, cultural dislocation, and political idealism. In 2014, responding to the Syrian humanitarian crisis, Uruguayan President José Mujica launched an unprecedented government initiative to offer asylum to Syrian families living in refugee camps in Lebanon. The film intimately chronicles the multi-year journey of two of these families, beginning with their first encounters with the filmmaker in Lebanon and continuing through their complex process of adaptation in Uruguay—a country they had never heard of before.
Through observational storytelling and poignant interviews, the documentary explores themes of exile, resilience, and the emotional weight of integration into an unfamiliar culture. "A Great Trip to a Small Country" is both a timely geopolitical case study and a powerful meditation on belonging, hope, and the global responsibilities of small nations in times of crisis.
Reviews
"Although it is a portrait of Syrian families who arrived in Uruguay as refugees in 2014, The Great Journey to the Small Country also addresses many other issues. Its director, Mariana Viñoles, once again manages to bring intimacy to the screen, making it not only about the political circumstances and cultural conflicts involved in migration, but also allowing her own reflective presence as a filmmaker to emerge." - Catalina Alonso, La Diaria Cultura
Citation
Coming soon.
Cataloging
A MARC record for this title is not available yet.
Pragda subjects
Anthropology
Culture + Identity
Exile
Family
International Relations
Migration Studies
Sociology
South America
Women
Keywords
Clips
Festivals
Docs Barcelona - Latitude Award Best Film; International Gramado Film Festival - Best Direction, Audience Award, Critic Award, Jury Special Award
DIRECTOR: Mariana Viñoles
NATIONALITY: Uruguay, Syria
YEAR: 2019
GENRE: Documentary
LANGUAGE: Spanish; Arabic; Other languages
COLOR / B&W: Color
GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adult
SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE
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