127 min – 2022
Director : Zaynê AKYOL (Canada)
Production : Metafilms (Canada)
Rojek goes to meet members of the Islamic State, and their women detained in prison camps, from all over the world and sharing a common dream: to establish a caliphate. Confronted with the fundamentalist beliefs of the jihadists, the film attempts to trace the beginning, the rise and the fall of the Islamic State (IS) through their personal stories. These conversations form the common thread of the documentary through which various sequences intertwine describing post-war Syrian Kurdistan. The film offers an intimate look at an unknown reality, bearing witness to strong moments experienced by the actors of this conflict. The film discusses how this ideological war is only the beginning of a new threat.
Zaynê AKYOL is a graduate of the University of Quebec in Montreal, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Communication, with a specialization in Cinema. His first documentary feature, Gulîstan, Land of Roses (2016) was selected by 80 international film festivals, garnering 50 nominations and winning 12 awards, including the prestigious Doc Alliance Award presented at the Locarno Film Festival. In her spare time, she is a photographer and her exhibitions have been widely publicized. Rojek is her second documentary.