Viewer discretion advised. This film is not rated and contains strong language, violence, graphic images of war and terrorism.

Subtitles available in English, Greek, Spanish, Turkish, German, Italian, French, and Russian. (Runtime: 35 min)

This film was produced for non-profit educational purposes and is not to be sold or commercialized for any reason.  This film is protected under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial license CC-BY-NC-ND. Opinions expressed by individuals in the film are claimed as their own.

SYNOPSIS

The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria is an autonomous enclave experimenting with a radical form of democracy called Democratic Confederalism. The multicultural pluralistic system is centered around Direct Democracy, Women’s Liberation, and ecology.

In 2019, Unicorn Riot interviewed three New Yorkers who volunteered to fight alongside the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian Democratic Forces against ISIS and Turkey. The documentary features their oral accounts overlaid with contributed footage from anonymous sources to bring you a first person point of view of what happened to fighters as they held the front line in defense of Rojava, an autonomous zone in northern Syria. The three men share their perspectives of what they witnessed while playing a small role in the Syrian Civil War as international volunteers for the YPG.

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Unicorn Riot original reporting on Syria:

• International Volunteers of the Rojava Revolution - DOCUMENTARY FILM - (2019)
• Looking Beyond the Rubble: Aiding the Kurds After the Syria, Türkiye Earthquake (April 25, 2023)
• Revolution in Every Country Comic Series: Episode 1 – Syria: Erasing an Inconvenient Revolution (June 5, 2022)
• Origins of the PKK and the ‘Rojava’ Revolution: Part II (September 18, 2021)
• Origins of the PKK and the ‘Rojava’ Revolution: PT. I (August 3, 2021)
• Building Autonomy Through Ecology in Rojava (February 28, 2018)
• Kurdish Fighters Defend Afrin From Turkish Military Invasion in Northern Syria (January 25, 2018)
• Kobane Rebuilds as ISIL Control Diminishes in Syria (December 27, 2017)
• As Course of War Turns, Turkey Challenges Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava) (October 30, 2017)
• Solecast #20 Rojava Special w/ Janet Biehl (January 9, 2016)
• Pipeline Politics in the Syrian Civil War (September 20, 2015)
• Youth Press Conference Bombed in Turkey - Deprogram Ep. 12 (July 23, 2015)