AFREEN

Directed and produced by AASHISH CHANANA

Written by MIKE SMITH

A film exploring the roots of terror and the price of revenge, Afreen takes a long, deep look at the motivations fueling radical Islam – from the most influential kingpin down to the street-level soldier – and its subsequent impact on the West.

The titular character is a young Iraqi-born woman who resettled in Canada after the traumatic loss of her family during the Battle of Mosul in 2004. Twelve years later, having partially assimilated to Western life, Afreen’s pain and rage have quieted but not lessened, making her a ripe target for radical Islamic propagandists. Seduced by the allure of revenge, Afreen becomes embroiled in a sinister plot – funded by Saudi sheikhs and organized by ISIS – to execute a devastating terror attack on the city of Toronto. However, personality and ideological clashes among her companions in the terror cell begin to shake Afreen’s conviction, leading her to question all she thought she knew, leaving the fates of hundreds hanging precariously in the balance.

Inspired by actual events, Afreen is a work of realistic fiction interwoven with fact. Its gritty subject matter is given a highly stylized treatment, courtesy of director Aashish Chanana’s Bollywood background – a riveting fusion that reflects one of the film’s central themes, the explosive collision between the West and Middle East. At once a moving drama, a breakneck thriller, a gut-wrenching war parable, and a tender love story, Afreen is a film of, and for, our uncertain and tumultuous times.