A documentary that follows the efforts of 'Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently,' a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. With deeply personal access, this is the story of a brave group of citizen journalists as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run, and in exile, risking their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.
I'm not sure whether City of Ghosts deserves to be called a great film, but it definitely should be seen. At a minimum, we owe the people of Raqqa our pledge not to look away from their suffering.
Heineman powerfully captures the agonizing sense of displacement these men must feel. Gaunt, lanky, chain-smoking RBSS founder Aziz is an emotionally wounded, haunted figure. The "ghosts" in the title doesn't just apply to those killed in Raqqa.
Matthew Heineman gets up close and personal with some of the RBSS members, who live with the daily threat of violent retribution and in some scenes comment from the cloistered security of German or Turkish safe houses.
