EXTREME DIALOGUE
stories


These compelling films form the starting point for Extreme Dialogue because they reveal the various ways ordinary people can be affected by extremism.

Supporting educational resources enable participants to examine the moral challenges at play in each film. Young people are encouraged to consider what they would do in similar circumstances and to think critically about their own and others’ choices and consequences.

From those who are recruited to a cause, to the families and friends left behind when things go badly wrong, to the survivors of extremism — we have given everyone a voice.

Discover real stories from real people in their own words.

Sylvain


Bankrupt and unable to feed his daughter, Sylvain ended up joining the Freeman of the Land movement. He then sold his house and isolated himself 600-feet above sea level to avoid a prophesied apocalypse on 12/12/2012.

Junior


In 1989, L.A.M, the Montreal Antifascist League, was born. This youth-led group formed as a direct response to violent far-right movements in the region. Junior was L.A.M’s spokesperson, and this is his story.

Adam Deen


Adam joined the British Islamist extremist group al-Muhajiroun at university but later found that his values and sense of what was right, both for himself and in the eyes of the Islamic faith, conflicted with those around him. Discover more about his story and how he came to leave the group, with the help of this mixed-media educational resource.

Billy McCurrie


Explore how grief can perpetuate a cycle of violence through revenge in Billy’s story about the loss of his father during the Northern Ireland conflict and his subsequent recruitment to an extremist group. Delve deeper with the help of this multi-media educational resource.

Christianne Boudreau


Christianne's son Damian died fighting for ISIS in Syria. Here she speaks movingly about her bewilderment at his decision to go and fight, the hours she spent searching for him and her agony at learning of his death. Explore Christianne and Damian’s story further, including his motivations and a broader take on the recruitment of Westerners to ISIS, with the help of this multi-media educational resource.

Daniel Gallant


Find out how far-right and racist groups target and influence their members in Daniel’s story. He was recruited at 19 to an anti-Semitic extremist organisation. He now recognises that the physical abuse he suffered in childhood at the hands of his stepfather taught him that violence and hate were the only means of gaining respect. Explore his story using our mixed-media educational resource.

Fowzia Duale Virtue


As a child at school Fowzia had to deal with racism and ignorance. The eldest of nine siblings and the only one to have been born in Somalia, she was singled out by classmates at her school in Toronto, Canada. She hid the racism she was experiencing and, years later, Fowzia is starting to process its emotional impact. Get further insight into Fowzia’s story and the pervasive ways prejudices take root via our mixed-media educational resource.

Jimmy Shahinian


Jimmy left his war-torn homeland of Syria after becoming one of ISIS’ “most-wanted” for his role in civilian uprisings. But his new life as a refugee in Germany held its own challenges. Find out more about the Syrian conflict and how Jimmy felt about starting his life from scratch again in Europe, with the help of this multi-media educational resource.

Szabolcs Horváth


When a far-right group staged a rally in Szabolcs’ hometown of Devecser, Hungary, he was shocked to see that one of the loudest of those shouting racist remarks about the Roma community was a childhood friend, a man he’d eaten and drunk with just days earlier. The 2012 march has left Szabolcs fearing for his children’s futures. Examine wider lessons around prejudice, through Szabolcs’ story, with our mixed-media educational resource.