On Her Shoulders

The Matchmaker

A unique interview with Tooba Gondal, the woman who groomed and lured scores of Western women to join ISIS. Using social media, she became a deadly matchmaker, recruiting a number of high-profile “jihadi brides” for ISIS militants in Syria: she allegedly helped organise the transporting of three British schoolgirls, including Shamima Begum, to Syria.

1985: Heroes among Ruins

"1985: Heroes among Ruins" is a reflection of disaster. It is about the human solidarity, the search and rescue and the importance of civil protection, but above all, the triumph of the people over devastation during the earthquake of September 19, 1985 in Mexico City and the one ocurred in September 19, 2017.

The Honey Trap: A True Story of Love, Lies and the FBI

A dramatic tale of espionage, propaganda, and romance, following the infamous Berlin rapper Denis Cuspert aka Deso Dogg and his journey from artist to MMA fighter to ISIS recruiter. When the FBI assigns a translator to monitor Cuspert, her quest to get close to him takes over her life.

My Enemy, My Brother

The eight-year Iran-Iraq War was one of the most brutal conflicts to devastate the region in the 20th century. Zahed was 13 years old when he enrolled in the Iranian army. Najah was 18 when he was conscripted into the Iraqi army, and he fought against Zahed in the Battle of Khorramshahr. Fast forward 25 years, a chance encounter in Vancouver between these two former enemies turns into a deep and mutually supportive friendship. Expanded from the 2015 short film by the same name.

Defending Brother No.2

Two Dutch lawyers, Michiel Pestman and Victor Koppe, travel to Cambodia in 2011 to defend Nuon Chea in an international tribunal. Nuon Chea, also known as Brother No. 2, was the second man after Pol Pot in the Khmer Rouge regime. He is being charged with mass murder and crimes against humanity. For four years, the documentary follows the lawyers in their attempt to give this man a fair trial, but the UN tribunal is beset by local interests and a government which consists partly of other former members of the Khmer Rouge who would really like all of the blame to rest solely on the defendant. What should've been the crowning achievement in the careers of the lawyers turns out very different.

Birth of a Monster

For the past 12 years, journalist Paul Moreira has travelled extensively in Iraq. In this film, he goes in search of the men he filmed back in 2003 at the very beginning of the American occupation. Through their stories, and by tracing the roots of ISIS to the arrival of Abu Mousab Al-Zarqawi and America's handling of the resistance, he tells the story of how Iraq became such a fractured nation.

South Africa: The White Laager

Explores the history of the Afrikaners and Afrikaner nationalism, and the development of apartheid and its relevance to South Africa's political situation today.

End of Truth

A powerful investigation into the political and criminal enterprise of kidnappings as ISIS rose to power in war torn Syria. It inter cuts exclusive footage with interviews of negotiators, investigators, fixers and even a used car salesman who are caught up in the confusion.

Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire

The story of Canadian Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire and his controversial command of the United Nations mission to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. The documentary was inspired by the book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda which was published in 2003.

Refugee Poetry

The Kurdish Iraqi poet and actor Zeravan Khalil travels with his dog through an Alpine gorge after fleeing from IS war and genocide. As he remembers the abomination, he writes a poem with the title “You drive me mad” in Kurmanji Kurdish. In his home country, Yazidic Kurds are forbidden to work in his profession. Then he eats his apple and wanders through Europe’s middle with more hope.

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War.

The Selfless Sikh: Faith on the Frontline

For the past seventeen years British Sikh Ravi Singh has provided help to victims of disaster situations across the world, based on the Sikh principle of Seva, or selfless service.

Palmyra: Rising from the Ashes

Documentary following a team of technicians in Italy as they reconstruct a number of historic Middle Eastern artifacts that were vandalized at the hands of Islamic State.

One Flew Over Dadaab

Dadaab: The largest refugee camps in the world. Situated in Northeastern Kenya, it accommodates approximately 500,000 refugees, mostly from Somalia. A great number of these people have lived there most of their lives, trying to survive in congested and seemingly hopeless conditions. For those who know little more than life inside the camps, the outside word is just an 'abstract thought', far away from daily reality. Both the invisible and the real gates of Dadaab have made hundreds of thousands of people feel like prisoners, losing hope for the future.

Democracy Is ...

The film is a controversy on democracy. Is our society really democratic? Can everyone be part of it? Or is the act of being part in democracy dependent to the access on technology, progression or any resources of information, as philosophers like Paul Virilio or Jean Baudrillard already claimed?

Under Taliban Law

On August 15, 2021, Afghanistan descends into chaos. In one day, the completion of the withdrawal of Western forces precipitated the debacle of the regime in place: the army vanished, the leaders fled and the Taliban took Kabul without a fight. The great Central Asian country opens a new chapter in its tragic history, twenty years after the "war on terror" launched by George W. Bush in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. The undisputed masters of 40 million trapped Afghans, the "students of religion" are back and are savoring their revenge by posing as the United States' victors. Their program will surprise no one: to restore the Islamic emirate and set up the "true" sharia, i.e. a perfect world, with divine commandments applied to the letter as in the time of the prophet.

Hell and Hope

Islamic State militants abducted, raped, tortured, and sold thousands of girls. A few girls risked their lives to escape. What happened to them. This documentary follows those girls.

T'es où, Youssef?

The President vs. the Pirates

The make or break story of a Somali-Australian refugee who went back to where he came from to do battle with ruthless pirates and Islamic militants - and transform his broken homeland into a modern African State.

Decoding ISIS