- Mubin Shaikh went from militant extremist to undercover operative, exposing a major terrorist cell. Now as a well-connected Counter-Terrorism expert, Shaikh takes to the frontlines of the battle against violent extremism around the world.
- Undercover Jihadi follows Mubin Shaikh, a man who went from extremist militant to one of the few people in the world to have survived going undercover to expose a terrorist cell. Speaking with counter-terrorism experts in the United States, Germany, France, and the UK, we meet agents committed to staying one step ahead of home-grown jihadists, as well as the extremists themselves who are at war with western values. Led on by a personal religious duty to Islam, Shaikh takes to the frontlines of the battle against the radicalization and recruiting of the young and at-risk.
- Each time a young man leaves a quiet suburb and runs off to join ISIS, we are shocked. Why do they do it? How can they be stopped? And if they come back, what to do about them? These are the questions that animate our film. They are also the questions that drive Mubin Shaikh on his quest to stop potential jihadists around the world.
Guided by Shaikh, an ex-jihadi turned undercover informant, we see the world through the eyes of the "home-grown jihadis" who, driven by anger, a sense of oppression and a lust for action, seek to destroy their own nations and communities. As a government intelligence informant, Shaikh risked his life to uncover the details of The Toronto 18 case, a terrorist plot, with links to the US and the UK. A sophisticated plot promising carnage and devastation.
His years-long court testimony sent eleven men to prison in Canada, the US and the UK.
Now having earned a Masters in Policing, Intelligence, and Counter-Terrorism and completing a Ph.D., Shaikh is a sought-after consultant to international intelligence organizations involved in combating terrorism and jihadism.
Mubin leads us on a dramatic journey through the international teams that are working today to detect and prevent attacks in the United States, Canada, the UK, France, and Germany. His connections to both the world of violent jihad, to the Muslim community and to international intelligence agencies make him an ideal Virgil to lead us into the Inferno.
The journey takes us into the heart of U.S. Homeland Security to discover how American intelligence is dealing with home-grown radicalization. We go to Germany and discover how the German experience working with neo-Nazis turned out to be applicable to jihadi networks. And to France, to look at the social unrest in Muslim neighborhoods. We visit the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London to witness the sophisticated online information-gathering tools to track home-grown fighters who have left to fight for the Islamic State. In Canada, we see how some police agencies are trying the European methods.
The stories of recovering jihadis and from Mubin himself will lead us to the understanding that it is possible to fight radicalism not only on the battlefield but in the hearts and minds of the people who are now wielding the sword.
Directed by multi-award winner Barry Stevens, the film will provide a global snapshot of how major countries and communities are dealing with the jihadists at home.
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