Documentary and the news have a responsibility to stick to the facts. News about this woman already exists. I want you to know her beyond the headlines and see her as a child, to also experience some of the joy. It wasn’t tragedy and heartbreak from the get-go. Once we read something in the news, we’re trapped by our judgements and preconceived notions and it doesn’t really move the needle forward. It stays in the same echo chamber of discourse, and I wanted to find a new space where we could start at the beginning of this woman’s life and meet her on her own terms and see what brought her to that choice that shocked the world and captured our attention. When a person’s needs, like a sense of belonging and a home, are not met, people can go down a darker path in life. This film was never made to justify her fascination with ISIS or her decision to help her cousin find a hideout. It was a desperate plea to talk about radicalization with more nuance, through a more human lens. By doing so, I think that we can stop other people from falling into the same traps. There are moments in life when someone is at a crossroads, moments when we night actually save someone from making a bad choice, and I believe art can do that. I believe art saves people’s lives. Andrea Meyer has written creative treatments for commercial directors, a sex & the movies column for IFC, and a horror screenplay for MGM. Her first novel, Room for Love (St. Martin’s Press) is a romantic comedy based on an article she wrote for the New York Post, for which she pretended to look for a roommate as a ploy to meet men. A long-time film and entertainment journalist and former indieWIRE editor, Andrea has interviewed more actors and directors than she can remember. Her articles and essays have appeared in such publications as Elle, Glamour, Variety, Time Out NY, and the Boston Globe.