Winner – DGC Special Jury Prize - Canadian Feature Documentary
The Syrian Democratic Forces, mostly Kurdish, as well as the international coalition, have succeeded in dislodging the Islamic State from their last stronghold and ending their project of establishing a caliphate in Syria. Today, thousands of Islamic State members, along with their wives and children, end up in prisons and camps under the supervision of the Kurds. With extraordinary access, we travel through Syria and inside makeshift prisons, where detainees speak candidly about their motivations, experiences and loyalties, offering an incredible range of perspectives on the formation, rise and defeat of the Islamic State. Filmed against the backdrop of a country still recovering from a long and brutal war, Rojek's mix of close-up and aerial perspectives of the prisons and their surroundings invite us to reflect on the consequences of the conflict and the haunting uncertainty in the region's future. Mariam Zaidi