Coming in December on FRONTLINE
Refugees wait to board buses at the Austria-Hungary border. (Gus Palmer / Keo Films 2015)
Back in Damascus, Syria, Hassan was an English teacher.
But when we meet him in Exodus, FRONTLINE’s Dec. 27 documentary, this young man’s once-ordinary life has been upended — and he’s about to embark on a perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea that thousands of people have died while attempting.
“Anyone can become a refugee,” Hassan says. “It’s not something which you choose; it’s something that happens to you.”
Hassan’s story is among several that unfold in Exodus, a two-hour, first-hand look at the reality of the global migration crisis. It’s told in part through camera and smartphone footage filmed by refugees and migrants themselves — on sinking dinghies attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea, inside the trucks of human traffickers, and in the countries they hope to call home.
From Hassan, to Isra’a, a young Syrian girl who fled Aleppo with her family after a missile destroyed their home, to Alaigie, a Gambian man who dreams of lifting his brothers and sisters out of poverty, Exodus is an unforgettable look at the choices migrants and refugees face.
“Nobody wants to leave their country and risk dying at the sea,” Hassan says. “But when it becomes impossible to live in your own country, people will do desperate things.”
Also this month, we’ll bring you an encore presentation of The Secret History of ISIS, our deep-dive into the origins of the terror group whose rise helped to feed the refugee crisis.
Plus, in the run-up to the holidays, we’ll re-air From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians, our miniseries telling the epic story of the rise of Christianity. And of course, stay tuned for a packed January schedule that will explore how America’s intense polarization came to be.
Here’s a closer look at our December lineup.
Dec. 6: The Secret History of ISIS
From veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team comes the inside story of the creation of ISIS, and how the U.S. missed the many warning signs. The documentary uncovers the terror group’s earliest plans, the Islamic radicals who became its leaders, and the American failures to stop ISIS’s brutal rise.
Dec. 13 & 20: From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians
In two two-hour installments, this series traces the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, and the early rise of Christianity. With at times controversial historical evidence, Part One explores the message that helped Jesus’s ministry grow, and how it spread after his crucifixion. Part Two explores the extraordinary and bloody events of the second and third centuries.
Dec. 27: Exodus
Airing at a special time — 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. CST — Exodus tells the first-person stories of refugees and migrants fleeing war and persecution for Europe, drawing on camera and phone footage filmed by the families themselves as they leave their homes on dangerous journeys seeking safety and refuge.
Check your local PBS listings for air times.
