Anna: The Woman Who Went to Fight ISIS (2019)
In 2017, 25-year-old Anna Campbell from Lewes in East Sussex travelled in secret to northern Syria. She was heading for Rojava, the Kurdish territory in the north of the country. In the midst of the civil war in Syria, a fledgling feminist democracy had been established but almost immediately came under threat from the so-called Islamic State. Just eight months after arriving and with no military background, Anna went to the front line to fight with Kurdish YPJ. A month later she was killed by a Turkish air strike.
With access to her diary and videos filmed while she was there, this film explores what motivated Anna to leave and how her family make sense of the tragic consequences.
I undertook a week-long shoot in Syria in February 2019. The film is part of the award-winning This World strand, you can view the final film here on BBC iPlayer.
Producer & Director - Marina Parker
Cinematographer - Nick Holt, Lucy Martens, Javier Manzano, Martin Webb & Sebastien Rabas
Film Editor - Dominic Coke
Online Editor - Mike Green
Executive Producer - Victoria Bridges (Lotus Films)
Executive Producer - Sean Smith (Lotus Films)
Executive Producer - Sarah Waldron
Executive Producer - Sam Bagnall
