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 of 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’ 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 the viewer in the Callimachi’s psyche as she forged deeper behind the lines of the world’s most feared terror organization.

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. At the core of the film is a connected thread of animated words that appear on-screen as though a continuous writing and rewriting of headlines. The editing brings this together with sound and imagery to create fully immersive and visceral films that puts viewers in the shoes of the journalist as she uncovered a treasure trove of files that reveals the workings of one of the world’s most deadly terrorist organizations. The timing of the words and the meaning attached to them were used to make viewers feel like the stories were unraveling as they did for the journalist in real time.