“The Journey” presents a fictional story of a young woman forced to flee her country to escape violence. As gunfire erupts, she takes off through dusty roads wearing flip-flops. After a dangerous journey by land and sea to reach safety, she endures challenges as a refugee in a strange country, before finding purpose through sport. The film was made in collaboration with two IOC Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holders, who are among more than 60 refugee athletes and Para athletes training for the chance to compete in the Tokyo Games this summer. Rose Nathike Lokonyen, a refugee from South Sudan who carried the flag for the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, advised on the video. Rose fled tribal warfare in South Sudan with her family when she was just eight years old. They eventually found safety in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, where Rose made friends through football. In 2015, when the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team held trials at the camp, a teacher suggested Rose enter the 10,000 metres race. It earned her a spot on the Refugee Olympic Team, for which she competed in the 800 metres race at Rio. Now a High Profile Supporter for UNHCR, Rose advocates for bringing educational and sports opportunities to refugee children. Rose now lives and trains at the Tegla Loroupe Refugee Athletes’ Training Centre in Ngong, near the capital Nairobi. Like many athletes around the world, she has been forced to tailor her training to account for lockdowns imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, she hopes to continue her own journey in Tokyo. “When we marched into Maracanã Stadium [in Rio]…people were really welcoming us… We felt like we were human beings,” Rose said. “Sport has the power to change the life of others, especially displaced people.”

PANTERA are three Argentinian directors: Brian Kazez, Pato Martinez and Francisco Canton. Their work has been awarded in different festivals such as the Cannes Lions (Craft), Young Director Award, OneShow. Selected and featured in platforms such as It’s Nice That, Nowness, Vimeo. From the heart of this company, these beloved directors have been working as a collective facing each decision, side by side, in every project. They have a passionate and edgy dynamic as they are deeply sensitive persons in different ways so the curiosity and search on each project come from diverse sides and understandings. This curiosity has been building and improving an explorer and adventure spirit in all of them, following dream projects to remote places as Jamaica, Morroco, India, Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire. They have a constant empathy with the reality that brings to their work a pure visual language which takes care of each frame with emotion and rawness. Over the past three years, they’ve worked with global clients as Volvo, Corona, Nike, Mercedes Benz, Booking, Adidas, Reebok, MTV, Rolling Stone, Converse, Valvoline, Smart, to name a few.