Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Refugees flee oppression, war; show courage, perseverance.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
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Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
We Dare to Dream
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Wael Fawaz Al-Farraj, Cyrille Tchatchet, Kimia Alizadeh, Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, and Saeid Fazloula are all refugees who aspire to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in WE DARE TO DREAM. Together with director Waad Al-Kateab, each has a grim story of why they had to leave their home country and how they came to start rebuilding their lives in new places. Each also has a personal motivation for training to become an elite athlete and compete for the Refugee Olympic Team. Not all make the team for the 2020 Olympics, but we get to see the competitions for those who do and learn about where they all hope to go next.
Is It Any Good?
This documentary offers viewers a poignant glimpse into the refugee experience and with it a brief and perhaps too narrow view of a range of global socio-political scenarios. Though director Al-Kateab and the We Dare to Dream team have selected five athletes with compelling stories to follow, you get the sense that all of the members of the Refugee Olympic Team must have similarly harrowing and gripping stories. Look no further than last year's The Swimmers, a biopic about another member of the same team, for proof.
Al-Kateab makes sure to introduce her own experience fleeing Aleppo, Syria (the topic of her prior film For Sama), a smart decision that instills trust in her as storyteller and informs some of her later conversations with her subjects. The film competently weaves the stories of the refugees together in phases, from introductions to back stories to performances at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. Each person's experience surely deserves its own film, and you might be left wanting to know more details of what happened to send them all away from their home countries and into traumatic passages to new homes in refugee camps or Europe. But their stories will stay with you regardless.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the various backgrounds and experiences of the subjects of We Dare to Dream. What do they have in common? How does each story differ?
Where could you go to find more information about why these individuals were forced to leave Iran, Syria, Cameroon, and South Sudan?
How do the people profiled in this film demonstrate courage? Can you recall an example from each person's life?
How do the refugees-turned-athletes show perseverance? How does this serve them, and in some cases even save their or their families' lives?
What are the characteristics of an authoritarian government? How does this differ from a democratic system? What rights and privileges do citizens of democratic countries have that those in authoritarian societies do not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : December 1, 2023
- Cast : Kimia Alizadeh , Saeid Fazloula , Cyrille Tchatchet
- Director : Waad Al-Kateab
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Director(s)
- Studio : Peacock
- Genre : Documentary
- Topics : History
- Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance
- Run time : 98 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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