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Rojek

Zaynê Akyol
Canada, 2022, 127 min.


Includes violence.

Rojek encounters incarcerated members of the Islamic State from all over the world, as well as their wives detained in prison-camps, who are sharing a common dream: establishing a caliphate. Confronted with the fundamentalist beliefs of the jihadists, the film attempts to trace the beginning, the rise and fall of the Islamic State (ISIS) through their personal stories. These conversations are the thread along which the documentary evolves, as it is intertwined with various sequences depicting current, post-war Syrian Kurdistan. Rojek offers an intimate gaze at an unknown reality, testifying of pivotal moments experienced by the actors of this conflict.

Director's Statement

Rojek is the concretization of all the thoughts and materials I accumulated over the last ten years going back and forth between Canada, Iraqi Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan. Rojek takes place in the post-war period, questioning the actors who participated in the chaos and helped perpetuate it. It is a film that tries to shed light on the phenomenon of indoctrination and offers a rarely seen point of view, that of the members of ISIS themselves.

Category: Documentary.
Themes: Religion, War, Women, World Cinema.

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