The Islamic State (documentary)

Last updated
The Islamic State
Directed byMedyan Dairieh
Produced by
Narrated by Ben Anderson
CinematographyMedyan Dairieh
Edited by
  • Evelyn Franks
  • Andy Hayward
  • Sam Sapin
  • Paula Salhany
  • Rich Lowe
Distributed by Vice Media (Vice News)
Release date
  • 20 August 2014 (2014-08-20)
Running time
42:32
Country Syria
Language English

The Islamic State is a documentary created by VICE News in 2014 during the rise of the Islamic State and documented by Vice News correspondent Medyan Dairieh while he was visiting the territory of the Islamic State for 3 weeks in which he explored areas of Raqqa with the hisbah (Islamic State police) and explored the front lines of Syria. [1] A trailer was released for it called "From ISIS to the Islamic State" which was released on August 11, 2014. [2]

Contents

Film and plot

The correspondent, Medyan Dairieh, was spending three weeks in the territory of the Islamic State in Raqqa from May to June 2014, where he explored Raqqa up to the Euphrates river in which he talked to the members of the Islamic State, military of the Islamic State, and civilians under the rule of the Islamic State. [3] These were considered planned trips and Dairieh was there with the permission of the Islamic State which was considered surprising by many. [4] One of the members of the Islamic State that was a guide to the Euphrates was Islamic State press officer Abu Mosa, who gained attention after being filmed by VICE News. [5] Through their guide on the banks of the Euphrates, a propaganda vehicle that was used in propaganda by the Islamic State showed up and revealed how kids are used in the Islamic State, in the various clips shown in the documentary, the kids, teenagers to children, showed love for the Islamic State and the so-called caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. [6] During these interviews near the Euphrates, they talked about how the inside of the Islamic State worked with child recruitment, where kids under the age of 15 were sent to Sharia camp, an organized learning environment about Islam, Salafism, and Jihadism, and kids above the age of 15 were sent to military camps to learn about fighting and basic weapons training, specifically with the AK-47. [7] The driver of the propaganda van was an Australian-born Jihadist named Khaled Sharrouf who joined ISIS (before it was the Islamic State) in December of 2013, he was interviewed with his son where he pressured his son to say pro-ISIS answers to the interviewer. [8] The van was called the "preaching van" which espoused Qu'ran verses from the megaphones on top and also preached Wahhabi ideologies. [9] Those who interviewed VICE in the area of Raqqa about the children stated that the children were a "generation of Jihad" and loved the so-called caliphate. [10] Through the tour of Raqqa, they talked about their hatred for Turkey, especially for cutting off the dam to Raqqa and Mosul of the Euphrates, the Free Syrian Army, and Al-Nusra Front. [11]

Reception and criticism

The Washington Post called the documentary 'impressive' in an article released by them. [12] Business Insider called the documentary amazing and talked about how it showed the violence and the recruitment by the Islamic State. [13] The legality of how VICE News gained access and the trust of the Islamic State was heavily questioned and criticized due to the fact it can be seen as illegal. [1]

Awards

In 2014, the documentary won VICE News a Peabody Award. [14] VICE News was one of the multiple news, radio and podcast winners for 2014. [15] The winners were released on April 20, 2015. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raqqa</span> City in Syria

Raqqa is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about 160 kilometres east of Aleppo. It is located 40 kilometres east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and bishopric Callinicum was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 796 and 809, under the reign of Harun al-Rashid. It was also the capital of the Islamic State from 2014 to 2017. With a population of 531,952 based on the 2021 official census, Raqqa is the sixth largest city in Syria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rojava–Islamist conflict</span> Theater in the Syrian Civil War

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Al-Hayat Media Center is a media wing of the Islamic State. It was established in mid-2014 and targets international (non-Arabic) audiences as opposed to their other Arabic-focused media wings and produces material, mostly Nasheeds, in English, German, Russian, Urdu, Indonesian, Turkish, Bengali, Chinese, Bosnian, Kurdish, Uyghur, and French.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raqqa campaign (2016–2017)</span> Part of the Rojava–Islamist conflict in Syria

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zainuri Kamaruddin</span>

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In course of the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017), an international coalition, primarily composed of the Syrian Democratic Forces and CJTF–OIR, captured the Raqqa Governorate from the Islamic State, which had declared Raqqa city the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Raqqa (2017)</span> Major battle in the Syrian civil war

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The Islamic State is a militant group and a former unrecognised proto-state. The group sophisticatedly utilizes social media as a tool for spreading its message and for international recruitment. The Islamic State is widely known for its posting of disturbing content, such as beheading videos, on the internet. This propaganda is disseminated through websites and many social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, and YouTube. By utilizing social media, the organization has garnered a strong following and successfully recruited tens of thousands of followers from around the world. In response to its successful use of social media, many websites and social media platforms have banned accounts and removed content promoting the Islamic State from their platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deir ez-Zor campaign (2017–2019)</span> Part of the Syrian Civil War (2017–2019)

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Al-Barakah is a Syrian administrative district of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised proto-state. Originally set up as al-Barakah Province to govern IS territories in al-Hasakah Governorate, the province shifted south after 2016 due to the territorial losses to the YPG/YPJ. Having been demoted from province to district in 2018, al-Barakah administered a small strip of land along the Euphrates in Deir ez-Zor Governorate until the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani; since then the "territory" has turned into an insurgency.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Mosa (press officer)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State Health Service</span> ISIS-run health service (2015-2019)

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References

  1. 1 2 March, Andrew F. (2014-10-01). "Is Vice's Documentary on ISIS Illegal?". The Atlantic . ISSN   2151-9463. OCLC   936540106 . Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  2. ↑ "From ISIS to the Islamic State: Vice News trailer". The Mercury . 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
  3. ↑ al-Shibeeb, Dina (2016-03-15). "First journalist who visited Raqqa: 'ISIS's initial target was Jordan'". Al Arabiya English . Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  4. ↑ Calderone, Michael (2014-08-07). "How Vice News Got Unprecedented Access To The Islamic State". HuffPost . Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  5. ↑ Buchanan, Rose Troup (2014-08-22). "ISIS spokesperson reported as dead". The Independent . ISSN   1741-9743. OCLC   185201487 . Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  6. ↑ Salama, Zeina Karam & Vivian. "ISIS Is Building An Army of Child Soldiers In The Capital Of Its 'Caliphate'". Business Insider . OCLC   1076392313 . Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  7. ↑ "A Look Into Heart of Jihadist 'Caliphate' in Syria, Iraq". NDTV . 2014-08-23. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
  8. ↑ Fraser, Kelmeny (2014-08-10). "The photo that will shock the world: jihadist Khaled Sharrouf's son, 7, holds severed head". The Daily Telegraph . ISSN   1836-0203. Archived from the original on 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
  9. ↑ Bunzel, Cole (2015). "From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State" (PDF). The Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World (15): 10 – via Brookings Institution.
  10. ↑ Porter, Geoff (2015-02-27). "The Role of Child Soldiers in a Multigenerational Movement". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point . Retrieved 2025-01-03.
  11. ↑ Khatib, Lina (2015-06-29). "The Islamic State's Strategy: Lasting and Expanding". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace . Retrieved 2025-01-03.
  12. ↑ Taylor, Adam (2014-12-23). "The strange story of the 'first Westerner' to report from the Islamic State". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286. OCLC   2269358 . Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  13. ↑ Kelley, Michael B. "The VICE Documentary About The Islamic State Is Amazing". Business Insider . OCLC   1076392313 . Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  14. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (2015-04-20). "Peabody Awards: 'Serial,' Vice, NBC's Richard Engel Among News, Radio Winners". The Hollywood Reporter . ISSN   0018-3660. OCLC   44653726 . Retrieved 2025-01-03.
  15. ↑ "74th Annual Peabody Award Winners — Announcing Documentary, Educational, Children's and Public Service Programming Winners | TVWeek" . Retrieved 2025-01-03.
  16. ↑ Holston, Noel (2015-04-20). "New players, forms highlight Peabody news, radio winners". University of Georgia . Retrieved 2025-01-03.
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