In conversation with the Director and Producer of The Return: Life After ISIS

The Sky Original documentary, The Return: Life After ISIS, provides exclusive access to a group of Western women who devoted their young lives to ISIS, including British recruit Shamima Begum, who fled the country with two school friends when she was just 15, and Hoda Muthana from the USA who allegedly incited her followers on Twitter to support the Islamic State. Universally reviled by the media, these women now tell their stories for the very first time.

Join documentary filmmaker Alison Millar in conversation with the film’s Director and Producer Alba Sotorra Clua and Producer Vesna Cudic as they discuss the experience of developing a film about this divisive issue, the emotionally challenging filming process and working with an all-female crew - half of whom were young Kurdish women who had lost family and friends in the fight against ISIS.

The Return: Life After ISIS launched on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW on Tuesday 15th June at 9pm and is still available on both platforms. Attendees will also be offered the option to select a ticket that to view The Return: Life After ISIS. A link and access code will be shared ahead of the event. In order to receive a screening link, you must book a ticket by 17:00 on Friday 23 July.

Alba Sotorra Clua is an independent filmmaker and producer, the founder of the Barcelona based production company Alba Sotorra S.L. Alba has worked in Syria, Afghanistan, Korea, Bosnia, Cuba, the US, Guatemala, England, Iran, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, and Qatar, and has lived long periods in the Middle East. Her films have premiered at such international festivals as HotDocs, Shanghai International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary, and Seminci. Her projects include the documentary feature film Game Over (2015), which received the VIII Gaudí Award from the Catalan Film Academy and Comandante Arian (2018), nominated for the Gaudí Awards for Best Documentary in 2019.

Vesna Cudic is a filmmaker and a sales agent, currently running MetFilm Sales, an international sales company, based in London’s Ealing Studios and part of MetFilm group. Prior to joining MetFilm in 2017, Vesna headed Dogwoof’s international sales arm since its inception in 2011, representing such films as Blackfish, Weiner, Cartel Land, and Life Animated. Since joining MetFilm, Vesna has built a strong sales slate, which includes Sundance 2021 competition title Misha and The Wolves, which she executive produced, Sundance 2020 Audience Award winner The Reason I Jump, Sundance and Berlinale 2019 entry Shooting the Mafia, and the Emmy-nominated The Oslo Diaries. She has executive produced MetFilm’s Netflix hit Last Breath, and award-winning documentaries The Changin’ Times of Ike White by Dan Vernon, Teresa Griffiths’ Capturing Lee Miller, Shosh Shlam & Hilla Medalia’s Leftover Women, and Giedre Zickyte’s The Jump. As a filmmaker, Vesna trained at the NFTS and is the winner of RTS and multiple film festival awards.

Host - Alison Millar is one of the UK and Ireland’s most respected documentary filmmakers. She’s a BAFTA, IFTA and Prix Italia winner with a reputation for making emotionally compelling films. Trained at the National Film and Television School, Alison then worked with Mike Leigh’s producer Simon Channing-Williams at ‘Imagine Films’ in London. She went on to make observational documentaries for BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4 with many of the UK’s best-known Independent Companies, as well as working in-house for the BBC Documentary Department in White City.

Alison moved back to Belfast and founded Erica Starling Productions Ltd in 2010.

Event Schedule:

17:55: Please join the webinar waiting room

18:00: Alison to host conversation

18:45: Attendee Q&A opens

19:00: Finish

How will the online event work?

This event will be live streamed via Zoom.us. Viewing details will be sent via your confirmation.

Attending participants will not be visible to others and will be muted throughout the session. After the talk, there will be an opportunity for audience members to ask their questions to the panel by using the Q&A feature.

This event is for existing WFTV members only.

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