Rojek

Synopsis

ROJEK encounters 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.

Director Biography

Zaynê Akyol graduated from Université du Québec à Montréal, where she obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Communication, with a specialization in film. Her first feature documentary, Gulîstan, Land of Roses was selected by 80 international film festivals, with 50 nominations and won 12 awards, including the prestigious Doc Alliance Award given at Locarno Film Festival. Zaynê is also a photographer whose exhibitions have been widely seen. ROJEK is her second documentary.