July 2017, Mosul is freed but in left in ruins. Ghadeer, a young journalist who fled to Brussels when Mosul fell into the hands of ISIS decides to abandon the promise of a future in Europe to return home. He and several friends create Radio One FM, a radio station independent from any religious, communitarianist or political ties, to promote peaceful coexistence in a war-torn society.
The first two years are utopic for the team of journalists. Radio One gains a national audience thanks to its documentation of the country’s hardships. But without external financing nor advertisement, the Radio faces financial problems. They open a café to use its revenues to finance the station. But the journalists’ independence comes under pressures from militias linked to the political clans battling for the control of Iraq. Corruption, power struggles and foreign interferences leaves the country once again teetering on the brink of civil war.
The story of Radio One mirrors the disillusion progressively affecting the Iraqi people. 20 years after the invasion of Iraq and the promises of democracy and state-building, the country is in a state of chaos.
For a year, despite the concerns of the international community and the threat of ISIS’ return, we followed the efforts to rebuild Mosul.
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