National Network for Equitable Library Service

In late 2007, a young Canadian student and three friends plunge themselves into the Middle East, seeking and filming stories that explore the conflict-ridden societies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. They meet with refugees fleeing political persecution, hardened Lebanese militia groups, hunted members of the Syrian opposition, Jewish immigrant soldiers, and Palestinian victims of Israeli torture. Even their misadventures - being interrogated by Hezbollah after crossing invisible lines in the suburbs of Beirut, or being shot at and tear-gassed by Israeli troops - serve only to deepen their understanding of the complex rivalries they encounter, and ultimately, upon their return to Egypt, by a powerful revelation about the nature of Islam.