Following its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, National Geographic Documentary Films has announced the world TV premiere of Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS, a new feature documentary from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and best-selling author Sebastian Junger and his Emmy-winning filmmaking partner, Nick Quested.
Premiering Sunday 11 June 2017 at 9pm (South Africa) and globally on National Geographic in 171 countries and 45 languages, Hell on Earth chronicles Syria’s descent into the unbridled chaos that allowed the rise of the Islamic State, better known as ISIS, in Iraq and Syria.
The Syrian war’s harrowing carnage
Pulling from nearly 1,000 hours of stunningly visceral footage, Junger and Quested, who previously collaborated on a trio of films about war (Restrepo, The Last Patrol and Korengal), capture the Syrian war’s harrowing carnage, political and social consequences and, most importantly, its human toll, while painting an alarming picture of the west’s role in the creation of ISIS.
“Sebastian and Nick acquired extraordinary access to all sides of this incredibly complex crisis,” said Tim Pastore, president of original programming and production for National Geographic. “The footage speaks for itself, offering a rarely seen look inside civil war from every angle.”
Intimate portrait of civil war and refugee crisis
“This is a difficult film to watch,” admits Quested. “I want to challenge people to sit through it. This is what’s happening. It is a window into the suffering of millions of people and the reasoning behind it. I want to challenge viewers not to look away, in exchange for gaining a greater understanding about the world.”
Through exclusive interviews with activists, journalists, diplomats, human rights workers, politicians and ordinary citizens, as well as historical archival footage, Hell on Earth captures a unique portrait of life in war-torn Syria, from that of a family living under ISIS control that finally fled to Turkey, to Kurdish fighters in Sinjar and Shia militias in Iraq and even to al-Qaida-affiliated fighters in and around Aleppo and Raqqa. Junger and Quested meticulously identify the forces that led to the deadly conflict in Syria and facilitated the rise of the radical Islamists who are now organising and inspiring terrorist operations around the world.
The film recently had its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, followed by screenings at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto.
Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS is produced by Goldcrest Films in association with National Geographic Documentary Films. Producers for Goldcrest Films are Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested. For National Geographic, the executive producer is Matt Renner and Tim Pastore is president of original programming and production.
What: Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS
Premieres: Sunday 11 June, 2017, at 9pm
Where: National Geographic, DSTV 181
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