Anastasia Trofimova gains unprecedented access to follow a Russian Army battalion in Ukraine. Without any official clearance or permits, she earns the trust of foot soldiers and over seven months embeds herself with the battalion as it makes its way across the frontlines.
What she discovers is far from the narratives propagated by the East or West: a war cutting through family and historical ties, soldiers disillusioned and often struggling to understand what they are fighting for.
We travel down to Sinaloa, Mexico – El Chapo’s home turf & the heartland of arguably one of the most powerful cartels in the country, if not the world. There, we follow a pair of local, low-ranking members eager to prove themselves as soldiers and sicarios (hit men) for the Sinaloa cartel.
Though they’re currently stuck making drug runs, tailing military trucks, & overseeing other petty assignments throughout the city of Culiacán, they’ll soon be headed to the mountains of Badiraguato to attend the cartel’s underground training camp, where veterans turn hungry young men into willing & able killers.
With never-before-seen, exclusive access to the intricate inner workings of the cartel’s recruitment and training systems, we’ll get a sense of how Mexico’s most powerful organized crime operations prepare their soldiers to wage war & enforce their dominion over their territory.
We’ll also get inside the heads of the civilians willing to permanently give up everything for a shot at rising through the ranks – ultimately learning both how & why so many young men are sucked into a life of crime & bloodshed
“They are gone.” These are the words that propelled photojournalist Nicole Tung into a daunting situation which nothing could have prepared her for. Masked men wielding Kalashnikovs had abducted her friends John Cantlie and James Foley while they were en route from Syria back into Turkey. Nicole had been nervously waiting for their arrival at the border. Instantly, their fate rested upon her ability to find out who captured her friends and how to get them back alive.
The abductions of John Cantlie and James Foley were the beginning of a hostage taking frenzy which impacted the foreign policy of many countries. Because of media blackouts surrounding the kidnappings, many others unwittingly ventured forth into hostile ISIS territory. Fixers were targeted, causing people who thought they were safe to be captured. These unsuspecting journalists and aid workers were thrown into a dark and desperate situation that ended horribly for those whose countries didn’t pay ransom. These crimes revealed what can happen when truths are obscured – causing negotiations and rescue missions to go horribly wrong.
End of Truth is an emotionally powerful investigation into the political and criminal enterprise of kidnappings as ISIS rose to power in war torn Syria. By intercutting exclusive footage with intimate interviews of negotiators, investigators, fixers and even a used car salesman who are caught up in the confusion, we examine the leads that led to lies revealing the terrible consequence of misinformation when lives are at stake.
With exclusive access to the Dallas Safari Club we go behind the scenes into the hidden world of big game hunting, where millionaires bid to hunt endangered species. We follow them from the auction room to the African continent where they claim that their sport actually saves lives in bringing much needed funds to impoverished communities, and help in the conservation effort.
Each year, the club itself comes under intense media scrutiny and severe criticism for it’s annual big game auction, and it is here that the arguments in favour of trophy hunting can be heard at their most impassioned.
In this revelatory documentary we will enter the world of the Dallas Safari Club, who for the first time are letting a documentary film crew into their inner circle. With this access we have an opportunity for some of the world’s most prolific (professional and amateur) Trophy Hunters to tell their side of this story. Through them we’ll seek to shine a light on the big questions in this debate. Does trophy hunting actually help or hinder conservation? In this most expensive of ‘sports’ where does their money go and who ultimately benefits? This revealing and at times shocking film will explore the world of this close knit and fiercely loyal community, where the legal and the moral are often conflated and Hunters are revered as professional athletes.
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Contact us to request full treatment, more screening material, information on broadcast partners, budget, finance plan or any other matters relating to potential partnerships.
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Director: Des Henderson
Producer: Ed Stobbart
Executive Producer: Kazz Basma
Distributor: Sideways Film
Country of Production: UK
Language: English
We are looking for: Co-Pro and Pre Sales
Stage of Project: Early Development
Delivery Date: TBA
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Key Biographies
Director – Des Henderson
Des is an award wining director with ten years experience originating and directing hard-hitting and startling factual content for a range of broadcasters, including the BBC, C4 and RTE. Des is currently in post-production on his latest feature-documentary that will screen at film festivals in the fall. Credits include: Project Children (Currently in Production), Keepin’ ‘Er Country (BBC 2015), Hit the Stage (BBC 2013), Life Patrol – BBC (2012).
Producer – Ed Stobart
Ed is a multi award winning producer and director who has delivered successful, high quality series and films for all the UK’s major terrestrial and digital broadcasters, and his work has been seen in over 150 territories around the world. He executive produces all of Alleycats output – BBC4’s Killing me Softly, The Roberta Flack Story; Here Comes the Summer, The Undertones Story; BBC1/CBBC Music City/Hit the Stage, BBC1 Longest Night and the award wining BBC1 NI/RTE1 Life Patrol and CBBC My Life: The Big Climb are highlights. Among his many award winning credits, Ed Stobart Executive Produced Pink Saris, directed by Kim Longinotto, which was BAFTA and Grierson nominated, winner of the Prix Europa, selected at numerous festivals including IDFA and Sheffield and broadcast on HBO, BBC and elsewhere worldwide.
Executive Producer – Kazz Basma
Kazz Basma set up Sideways Film in 2010 to distribute social justice and dramatic narrative documentaries. He has licensed films to broadcasters, all rights buyers, the education market and online on every continent and have been screened at prestigious festivals worldwide including Sundance, Tribeca, IDFA, Hot Docs and Sheffield Doc Fest. He attends at least twelve documentary festivals each year where he is regularly invited to speak on panels and at round-tables, serves as a guest lecturer at the London College of Communication and is an invited expert at EAVE (the European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs network).