The original video attracted 50 million views by reimagining the Syrian civil war and and its devastating effects for the life of a young girl in London.
Now Save the Children have released a sequel to its “Most Shocking Second a Day” film, depicting the heroine fleeing her home and becoming a refugee.
The 90-second film, which was released Monday, follows on from a 2014 clip that showed a girl’s life crumble into chaos as civil war devastated her home in suburban Britain. Its main character Lily – also the name of the actress who plays her – continues her story in a refugee camp before fleeing under fire with her family and travelling alone by boat, then across land with another unaccompanied child refugee.
The message of the previous video was “just because it isn’t happening here, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening”. This time, the film tells viewers “It’s happening now. It’s happening here”.
The video has already been widely shared, and many have described it as a powerful awareness-raising tool for the Syria crisis.
This is what it's like being an unaccompanied child refugee. Warning: you will cry: https://t.co/mvld1Hzmch #savechildrefugees
— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) 9 May 2016
The danger and bravery of being an unaccompanied child refugee. Short Film by @savechildrenuk. https://t.co/26jwge21On
— My Daughter's Army (@MyDaughtersArmy) 9 May 2016
Other commentators, however, weren’t so impressed with the video.
Some people felt troubled by the idea that the child had to be white and British in order for western audiences to care about what happened to her.
This really is annoying. As if a refugee crisis doesn’t matter unless the child is white and English-speaking. https://t.co/I64wMxCvIv
— Heidi N Moore (@moorehn) 10 May 2016
You can watch the original video from 2014 here.
