ZOOKEEPERS’ love of animals is stronger than their fear of getting killed. Granted precautions would be in place to avoid being fatally hurt by an animal. I give them credit nonetheless because I feel it takes courage to walk into a space where a wild animal is located. According to a couple of surveys some of the most dangerous jobs would be loggers, fishing workers, construction workers, truckers and farmers. Let us assume the person had a choice in what type of work they wanted to do and were aware of any dangers associated with it. The point I am making is a person chooses what they want to do for either financial reasons or desire to be in that field; they usually do not base their decision on how dangerous and thrilling it would be. Well maybe a stunt double or daredevil would want the excitement.     DESPITE the present danger there were and are people who defy the given norm. A person at one time marrying out of their faith or race could find themselves being cast out or killed. Holding hands or kissing someone of the same gender could get you thrown off of a building. The world is a scary place and personally I find it getting scarier than when I was younger. There is however examples all around of people being courageous. I think those who volunteer for experimental drug studies show courage, as an example. With most cases whatever lines of work a person chooses there would be some down time where they can relax and be off the clock so to speak. However what would you say about a person who decides to do something that will affect their life 24/7? You could say they are nuts, why would they want to do such a thing; however, there is something inside such an individual who would willingly take on the risk for a deeper cause. There is courage but after watching this film festival winning documentary I have a new definition for what courage means.     WATCHING their city being taken over by ISIS a small group of anonymous activists risk their lives to show the world what is going on in their hometown of Raqqa in Syria. Written and directed by Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare), watching this movie was not only hard but it was also unimaginable. The idea that these men are willing to take on such risk to show the world what is going on in their city was unbelievable. Seeing the footage they were able to shoot may be too much for some viewers. From a viewing experience this picture was suspenseful, thrilling, emotional and dramatic; I still am in a bit of shock that these activists are now marked for life for undertaking this endeavor. Kudos to the director for bringing together the various aspects to this story for there was the actual footage from the city, the personal stories of the activists and news reports. I will be honest I was hesitant for a moment on whether I should post this review. Based on the lengths being taken to squash these activists’ actions, I was wondering if I was in any kind of danger. It may sound crazy but after you view this film you might understand where I am coming from. This was not an easy movie to sit through but compared to what was on screen I have no right to complain about anything.

3 ½ stars