French filmmaker Christophe Smith found a secret buried in the papers of his late father, the noted journalist Sam White: Sam, he discovered, was a Jewish refugee. In 1922, he had arrived in Melbourne with his family at the age of seven, after a two-year odyssey spanning three continents. 

Smith’s decision to retrace his grandparents’ extraordinary journey exactly 100 years later propels the film. As he takes us from Ukraine to Belgium, from the Netherlands to Argentina and from England to Australia, Smith tracks his grandfather’s story, recounting the obstacles, dangers and the incredible twist of fate that delivered the family to safety. 

At the same time Smith uses declassified MI5 files to unpick his secretive father’s story. 

The film is an emotional tribute to the grandparents the director never knew, and to the millions of men and women who have taken the road of hope in search of a better life for their families.