This film looks to shed light on the rigor behind journalism and why it's all worth it. It’s a piece of work about pursuing the truth wherever it may lead and bringing that truth back in word form for the world to read. This film depicts the risk, guts and nerve shown by Rukmini Callimachi, the lead New York Times reporter covering the Islamic State. The film takes us on a journey through leads, sources and contacts across the world as Rukmini looks to understand the intricate details of how ISIS functions as an organization. After years of developing trusted contacts and collecting evidence on the ground in Iraq, Callimachi imbeds with Iraqi Army forces just as they liberate Mosul. Her instinct leads to a groundbreaking discovery among the rubble: a treasure trove of files that reveals the workings one of the world’s most deadly terrorist organizations.

The film launched at a time of renewed discussion on ISIS, Syria and terrorism. The script had to bring to life this incendiary subject matter while balancing the journalistic integrity of The New York Times. The script puts us in the reporter’s stream of consciousness, adopting her tone of voice and while also maintaining The Times’s inimitable house style. The script, a connected thread of words that appear on screen creating the effect of a continuously rewritten headline, was central to putting to putting the viewer in the Callimachi’s psyche as she forged deeper behind the lines of the world’s most feared terror organization.

The film’s art direction is centered around a unique typographic treatment of continuously rewriting headlines paired with emotive mixed media and found footage. By using this headline construct and supporting it with this real footage from the reporting, we were able to show viewers what the journalist went through as she worked, making them experience the rawness behind the reporting process of this Times story. In this way, the art direction helped viewers understand a terrorist organization shrouded in mystery and fear.