The Sundance 2021 Movie Scorecard
Sundance, the last film festival to play in-full and in-person before the 2020 pandemic shutdown last year, returned for an all-virtual edition in 2021. Some of the biggest, buzziest Sundance 2021 movies included the directorial debuts of Rebecca Hall (Passing) and Robin Wright (Land), a bonkers Sion Sono/Nicolas Cage team-up (Prisoners of the Ghostland), Rita Moreno doc Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, and Judas and the Black Messiah, which is already generating Oscar-nom talk for Daniel Kaluuya.
With the Sundance 2021 Movie Scorecard, see all the movies that played at the fest and, with enough critics reviews, got their Tomatometer scores! – Alex Vo
#63
Adjusted Score: 110536%
Critics Consensus: Deftly interweaving incredible live footage with a series of revealing interviews, Summer of Soul captures the spirit and context of a watershed moment while tying it firmly to the present.
Synopsis: In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary-part music film, part historical...
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#62
Adjusted Score: 100467%
Critics Consensus: An affecting profile of screen legend Rita Moreno, Just a Girl is at once a sharp critique of the industry's crushing inequities and a beautiful homage to an artist who never backed down despite the odds.
Synopsis: Over a 70+ year career, Rita Moreno defied both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to become a celebrated and...
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#61
Adjusted Score: 106834%
Critics Consensus: Depicting the refugee experience through vivid animation, Flee pushes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking to present a moving memoir of self-discovery.
Synopsis: FLEE tells the story of Amin Nawabi as he grapples with a painful secret he has kept hidden for 20...
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#60
Adjusted Score: 103203%
Critics Consensus: Their albums may be cult favorites, but this Edgar Wright-directed documentary offers an introduction to Sparks that has something for everyone.
Synopsis: How can one rock band be successful, underrated, hugely influential, and criminally overlooked all at the same time? Edgar Wright's...
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#59
Adjusted Score: 95699%
Critics Consensus: An eerily relevant debut from writer-director Iuli Gerbase, The Pink Cloud reaches into the emotional fault lines of pandemic life and comes away with striking observations about human behavior.
Synopsis: A mysterious and deadly pink cloud appears across the globe, forcing everyone to stay home. Strangers at the outset, Giovana...
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#58
Adjusted Score: 98505%
Critics Consensus: A fascinating tribute to a pioneer as well as an engrossing act of environmental advocacy, Playing with Sharks makes up in enjoyment what it lacks in depth.
Synopsis: Photographer Valerie Taylor becomes a trailblazing advocate for the ocean's most maligned and misunderstood creatures....
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#57
Adjusted Score: 98159%
Critics Consensus: Straightforward and disarmingly, charmingly sincere, Try Harder! follows college-bound students through their final year of high school.
Synopsis: At Lowell High School, the top public high school in San Francisco, the seniors are stressed out. As they prepare...
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#56
Adjusted Score: 102031%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and emotionally impactful, Luzzu uses one man's story to capture the struggles of a region at a cultural crossroads.
Synopsis: A hardworking Maltese fisherman, Jesmark is faced with an agonizing choice. He can repair his leaky luzzu -- a traditional,...
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#55
Adjusted Score: 97411%
Critics Consensus: Jockey rests almost entirely on Clifton Collins Jr. in the title role -- and he proves more than up to the task with a brilliant performance that gives this poignant drama its soul.
Synopsis: An aging jockey (Clifton Collins Jr.), hopes to win one last title for his longtime trainer (Molly Parker), who has...
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#54
Adjusted Score: 92602%
Critics Consensus: Ailey pays invigorating tribute to its subject's brilliant legacy -- and offers a tantalizing introduction to the rest of a fascinating story.
Synopsis: Alvin Ailey was a trailblazing pioneer who found salvation through dance. AILEY traces the full contours of this brilliant and...
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#53
Adjusted Score: 94507%
Critics Consensus: My Name Is Pauli Murray educates and uplifts in equal measure while paying stirring tribute to a largely unsung -- yet hugely important -- individual.
Synopsis: Fifteen years before Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat, a full decade before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned...
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#52
Adjusted Score: 90213%
Critics Consensus: A fascinating documentary with unique visual flair, Rebel Hearts offers stirring tribute to largely unheralded leaders in the fight against religious patriarchy.
Synopsis: In 1960s Los Angeles a trailblazing group of nuns, The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, bravely stood up...
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#51
Adjusted Score: 94322%
Critics Consensus: All Light, Everywhere poses thought-provoking questions about our view of objective reality -- and the implications for our growing reliance on surveillance technology.
Synopsis: ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE is an exploration of the shared histories of cameras, weapons, policing and justice. As surveillance technologies become...
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#50
Adjusted Score: 102330%
Critics Consensus: Writing with Fire pays stirring tribute to the power of journalism -- and presents a chilling glimpse of the forces aligned against it.
Synopsis: In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men emerges India's only newspaper run by Dalit women. Chief reporter Meera and...
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#49
Adjusted Score: 101681%
Critics Consensus: Sabaya presents a scary and sobering look at human suffering -- and the efforts of those dedicated to ending it.
Synopsis: Members of a group risk their lives trying to save Yazidi women and girls who are being held as sex...
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#48
Adjusted Score: 100689%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Sebastian is an ordinary man in his thirties devoted to his loyal dog and working in a slew of temporary...
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#47
Adjusted Score: 115100%
Critics Consensus: An electrifying dramatization of historical events, Judas and the Black Messiah is a forceful condemnation of racial injustice -- and a major triumph for its director and stars.
Synopsis: FBI informant William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois Black Panther Party and is tasked with keeping tabs on their charismatic leader,...
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#46
Adjusted Score: 101118%
Critics Consensus: A restless and riveting fable, Night of Kings sees writer-director Philippe Lacôte in full command of his craft.
Synopsis: A young man is sent to "La Maca," a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its...
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#45
Adjusted Score: 98148%
Critics Consensus: Gripping and clear-eyed, In the Same Breath captures history as it's being written -- and governmental failures as they amplify worldwide tragedy.
Synopsis: IN THE SAME BREATH recounts the experiences of people on the ground in the earliest days of the novel coronavirus...
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#44
Adjusted Score: 108426%
Critics Consensus: CODA's story offers few surprises, but strong representation and a terrific cast -- led by Emilia Jones' brilliant performance -- bring this coming-of-age story vividly to life.
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family -- a CODA, child of deaf adults....
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#43
Adjusted Score: 81509%
Critics Consensus: The World to Come is made from ingredients that will be familiar to fans of period forbidden romance movies, but they're given fresh life thanks to an excellent cast.
Synopsis: In this powerful 19th century romance set in the American Northeast, Abigail (Katherine Waterston), a farmer's wife, and her new...
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#42
Adjusted Score: 94734%
Critics Consensus: Smart, well-acted, and above all scary, Coming Home in the Dark finds first-time director James Ashcroft making his mark with a white-knuckle ride for horror fans.
Synopsis: A family's idyllic outing at an isolated coastline descends into terror when high school teacher Alan 'Hoaggie' Hoaganraad, his wife...
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#41
Adjusted Score: 98712%
Critics Consensus: Like the show whose groundbreaking creation it commemorates, Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street is as enlightening as it is purely entertaining.
Synopsis: Street Gang will take us inside the minds and hearts of the Sesame Street creators to help us understand not...
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#40
Adjusted Score: 85627%
Critics Consensus: Homeroom offers an encouraging -- and engaging -- look at young people preparing to leave high school behind and shape the future.
Synopsis: In "Homeroom," Oakland High School's class of 2020 confronts an unprecedented year. Anxiety over test scores and college applications gives...
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#39
Adjusted Score: 104184%
Critics Consensus: Mass requires a lot of its audience, but rewards that emotional labor with a raw look at grief that establishes writer-director Fran Kranz as a filmmaker of tremendous promise.
Synopsis: Years after an unspeakable tragedy tore their lives apart, two sets of parents (Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton, Reed Birney...
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#38
Adjusted Score: 86039%
Critics Consensus: Cusp smartly and sensitively captures the experiences of a trio of teen girls as they navigate the uncertain ground between youth and adulthood.
Synopsis: In a small military town in Texas, three spirited teenage girls live out a fever-dream summer. Through their characters, photographers...
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#37
Adjusted Score: 89632%
Critics Consensus: At the Ready takes the audience inside a fascinating -- and often unsettling -- collision between politics, education, and law enforcement.
Synopsis: Ten miles from the Mexican border, students at Horizon High School in El Paso, Texas, are enrolling in law enforcement...
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#36
Adjusted Score: 87398%
Critics Consensus: I Was a Simple Man tells a simple story whose deceptively straightforward approach yields richly melancholic rewards.
Synopsis: I Was A Simple Man is a ghost story set in the pastoral countryside of the north shore of O'ahu,...
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#35
Adjusted Score: 92157%
Critics Consensus: Son of Monarchs requires patience, but viewers attuned to its ambitious wavelength will be rewarded with a film that gracefully combines science with social identity.
Synopsis: After his grandmother's death, a Mexican biologist living in New York returns to his hometown, nestled in the majestic monarch...
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#34
Adjusted Score: 96388%
Critics Consensus: El Planeta taps into real-life economic anxiety to present a darkly humorous glimpse of life spent teetering on the edge of financial ruin.
Synopsis: Amidst the devastation of post-crisis Spain, a mother and daughter bluff and grift to keep up the lifestyle they think...
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#33
Adjusted Score: 97621%
Critics Consensus: Together Together explores love and parenthood from unexpected angles, capturing a broad spectrum of emotions through Patti Harrison and Ed Helms' starring performances.
Synopsis: When young loner Anna is hired as the gestational surrogate for Matt, a single man in his 40s who wants...
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#32
Adjusted Score: 96203%
Critics Consensus: Occasionally uneven but bold and viscerally effective, Censor marks a bloody good step forward for British horror.
Synopsis: Film censor Enid takes pride in her meticulous work, guarding unsuspecting audiences from the deleterious effects of watching the gore-filled...
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#31
Adjusted Score: 90486%
Critics Consensus: Strawberry Mansion's sci-fi premise provides cover for a film whose dream logic and surreal visuals are underscored by quietly poignant themes.
Synopsis: In 2035, our dreams are no longer our own-they're infused with product placement and auditors assess unpaid taxes on our...
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#30
Adjusted Score: 89631%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In early November 2018, raging wildfires killed 88 residents and destroyed tens of thousands of homes in the cities of...
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#29
Adjusted Score: 93000%
Critics Consensus: Violation presents a powerful depiction of one woman's trauma -- and its uncomfortably gripping aftermath.
Synopsis: With her marriage about to implode, Miriam returns to her hometown to seek solace in the comfort of her younger...
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#28
Adjusted Score: 88778%
Critics Consensus: A coming-of-age story with a uniquely crowd-pleasing touch, Marvelous and the Black Hole transcends its familiar story with fresh direction and charming performances.
Synopsis: A teenage delinquent (Miya Cech) befriends a surly magician (Rhea Perlman) who helps her navigate her inner demons and dysfunctional...
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#27
Adjusted Score: 89901%
Critics Consensus: It's occasionally uneven, but On the Count of Three finds director/star Jerrod Carmichael attempting an ambitious blend of drama and dark comedy -- and often succeeding.
Synopsis: From Annapurna Pictures (Spring Breakers, Sorry to Bother You, Booksmart) and Orion Pictures, Jerrod Carmichael makes his directorial debut and...
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#26
Adjusted Score: 87911%
Critics Consensus: In the Earth's bleak kaleidoscope of horror is a hallucinogenic meditation on the residual pandemic fears that haunt humanity.
Synopsis: As the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the...
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#25
Adjusted Score: 102980%
Critics Consensus: While Passing's delicate approach has a dampening effect on its story, debuting director Rebecca Hall makes the most of an impressive cast -- and handles thorny themes with impressive dexterity.
Synopsis: In 1920s New York City, a Black woman finds her world upended when her life becomes intertwined with a former...
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#24
Adjusted Score: 94041%
Critics Consensus: President opens a sobering window into the precariousness of democracy -- and how difficult it can be to pull it back from the brink.
Synopsis: When Robert Mugabe was removed from power, Zimbabwe military leaders promised they would not seize control for themselves but would...
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#23
Adjusted Score: 95351%
Critics Consensus: Narratively challenging and visually haunting, We're All Going to the World's Fair adds a uniquely ambitious and unsettling entry to the crowded coming-of-age genre.
Synopsis: Late on a cold night somewhere in the U.S., teenage Casey (Anna Cobb in her feature debut) sits alone in...
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#22
Adjusted Score: 82019%
Critics Consensus: A slow-burning thriller that teeters between reality and delusion, Knocking views social issues through a blurred lens streaked with horror.
Synopsis: After suffering a traumatic incident, Molly (Cecilia Milocco) moves into a new apartment to begin her path to recovery, but...
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#21
Adjusted Score: 69092%
Critics Consensus: Prisoners of the Ghostland is far from Sono's most distinctive work, but viewers in the mood for a deliriously gonzo genre mash-up featuring an explosive performance from Nicolas Cage just might have a ball.
Synopsis: In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail by a...
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#19
Adjusted Score: 82031%
Critics Consensus: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World tells an undeniably familiar cautionary tale, but it's no less unbearably tragic in the telling.
Synopsis: In 1971at the world premiere of Death in Venice in London, Italian director Luchino Visconti proclaimed Björn Andrésen, the teen...
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#18
Adjusted Score: 92854%
Critics Consensus: While Wild Indian might have benefited from a more probing approach to its themes, it's held together by Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.'s skilled direction and a strong performance from lead Michael Greyeyes.
Synopsis: Decades after covering up his classmate's murder, Michael (Michael Greyeyes) has moved on from his reservation and fractured past. When...
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#17
Adjusted Score: 71175%
Critics Consensus: Although occasionally muddled, A Glitch in the Matrix is a thought-provoking portrait of digital culture and its relationship to reality.
Synopsis: What if we are living in a simulation, and the world as we know it is not real? To tackle...
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#16
Adjusted Score: 79498%
Critics Consensus: For a werewolf movie, The Cursed is frustratingly lacking in killer instinct -- but its intriguing additions to well-worn mythology add some necessary bite.
Synopsis: In the late 1800s, a once-peaceful remote country village is under attack--but by who or what, no one knows. Villagers...
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#15
Adjusted Score: 67916%
Critics Consensus: Although it may be too clever for its own good, Human Factors benefits from strong performances and gripping tension.
Synopsis: To escape tensions at the advertising agency they own, a couple and their kids go away to their seaside vacation...
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#14
Adjusted Score: 69194%
Critics Consensus: It can feel more like a collection of skits than a cohesive story, but How It Ends is a comedic vision of the apocalypse with fleeting moments of brilliance.
Synopsis: In this feel good apocalyptic comedy, freewheeling Liza (Zoe Lister-Jones) scores an invite to one last wild party before the...
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#13
Adjusted Score: 53683%
Critics Consensus: Although this First Date might have gone more smoothly, it remains an (occasionally very) funny crime caper -- and an intriguing calling card for debuting co-directors Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp.
Synopsis: Conned into buying a shady '65 Chrysler, shy teen Mike's (Tyson Brown) eagerly-anticipated first date with the girl-next-door, Kelsey (Shelby...
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#12
Adjusted Score: 60855%
Critics Consensus: The Blazing World's scattershot script isn't always able to support writer-director-star Carlson Young's ambitions, but its arresting visuals hold the attention.
Synopsis: Decades after the accidental drowning of her twin sister, a self-destructive woman returns to her family home, finding herself drawn...
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#11
Adjusted Score: 50785%
Critics Consensus: Very little is off-limits in Mother Schmuckers' gleefully offensive pursuit of provocation -- unfortunately, it often mistakes shock value for genuine laughs.
Synopsis: Issachar and Zabulon, two brothers in their 20s, are supremely stupid and never bored, as madness is part of their...
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#10
Adjusted Score: 75131%
Critics Consensus: Although its visual overstimulation threatens to derail its themes, Cryptozoo is an ambitious and unique critique of capitalistic values.
Synopsis: Visionary comic book writer/artist/filmmaker Dash Shaw's vibrant, fantastical animated feature follows cryptozookeepers through a richly-drawn hallucinatory world as they struggle...
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#9
Adjusted Score: 66924%
Critics Consensus: It's overlong and uneven, but One for the Road may still satisfy viewers in the mood for a road trip movie with mortality on its mind.
Synopsis: Boss, an elusive bar owner living in New York, reunites with his estranged best friend, Aood, for a roadtrip in...
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#8
Adjusted Score: 78550%
Critics Consensus: Land's lovely vistas can't compensate for a hollowness at its center.
Synopsis: From acclaimed actress Robin Wright comes her directorial debut LAND, the poignant story of one woman's search for meaning in...
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#7
Adjusted Score: 52846%
Critics Consensus: Viewers may not be left sending out distress calls, but despite interesting ideas and a solid setup, Mayday leaves a frustrating amount of potential untapped.
Synopsis: Ana (Grace Van Patten) finds herself transported to a dreamlike and dangerous coastline. Once there, she joins a female army...
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#6
Adjusted Score: 64168%
Critics Consensus: John and the Hole's enticingly unique premise and disquieting atmosphere are often at odds with a meandering story that prevents this thriller from fulfilling its creepy potential.
Synopsis: A desperate game of survival unfolds after 13-year-old John traps his family in a hole in the ground....
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#5
Adjusted Score: 51689%
Critics Consensus: R#J represents an admirable attempt to update Romeo and Juliet, but alas, its bounty is not quite as boundless as the sea.
Synopsis: In fair Verona, a war as old as time is brewing between rival houses--but it's being captured in a new...
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#4
Adjusted Score: 65692%
Critics Consensus: Narratively thin but visually stylish, Superior puts a noirish spin on its examination of fraught sibling dynamics.
Synopsis: When Marian is on the run, she goes to the only place she knows is safe: her childhood home. She...
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#3
Adjusted Score: 75138%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Literary titan Amy Tan analyzes her life, her work, and her family -- in the present and past tense --...
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#2
Adjusted Score: 46643%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Starring:
#1
Adjusted Score: 90165%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Having fled the war in Syria, best friends Mahmoud and Fawzi live in Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan. Like many...
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