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Start with dramatic wide shots of Yazidis fleeing.

Helicopter shots, chaos, pain and suffering of the Yazidis. The women.

In August 2014 Islamic State fighters captured the city of Shangal and villages around it in Iraqi Kurdistan

Thousands of Yezidis fled for their lives.

The Yezidis follow their old century religion, The Islamic State group, or IS, considers them heretics. they captured thousands of women

Victim,

She told me she was locked in the room for three days. She was raped every day.

Nareen Shammo is a Yazidi .

Nareen:

At the end of August the situation improved, many trapped families on the mountain were freed, and we concentrated on the kidnapped women and I started to make contact with lots of them

Super-short hint of the Youtube clip of men boasting about the women they captured.

Clip from film/interview? Nareen talking, looking?

The few women who managed to escape say they were raped and tortured.

Despite receiving death threats from the Islamic state, Nareen has made it her life's mission to free the Kurdish Yezidi women held by them as slaves.

IS phone call and Nareen,

Nareen: Who are you?

IS fighter: I'm from the Islamic state.

This film tells Nareen's story.

"Slaves of the Caliphate"

Nareen:

I always put myself in kidnapped girls' position. When I speak to a them on the phone, I heard screams. They told me one of them is committing suicide. They were screaming saying she killed herself

If I were in their position, what would my life be like?

Showing the document

The Islamic State group considers the Yazidis devil worshipers.

A document issued by the Islamic State Research and Fatwa Department clearly states that it is permissible to buy, sell, or give the women away as gifts.

REF: Research and Fatwa Department of the Islamic State. Pamphlet released on Dec 4, 2014.

Nareen on her computer talks about the women. listens to recordings,

The very day Shingal was taken, Nareen Shammo resigned from her job as a journalist.

Now she works tirelessly to locate and negotiate the return of the Yezidi women held by IS.

Nareen:

Hi. Speak in Arabic. Someone else needs to understand you. Where have they taken you?

She plays back a three-way call with a Kurdish Yazidi captive and a local Arab sheikh, trying to arrange her release.

Nareen in the office Nareen:,

In this recording I asked one of the kidnapped women to speak in Arabic, because one of the Arabs tribal leaders was listening in. We were trying to convince the Arab tribe to buy the girls. Unfortunately we failed. We have recordings proving we tried to buy women through the tribes...But actually very few Arab tribes were prepared to help us.

Nareen

Nareen keeps track of hundreds of kidnapped women through database she put together

And she's in touch with those who still have their phones.

She wants to reach a woman she lost contact with for days.

This time she gets through

Nareen in a car on the phone to women under IS.

Nareen: What did you say? How many IS fighters are around you? Are there more or fewer than before? I see, so you don't leave the house.

Captive women: Do you have any news for us?

Nareen: Do I have any news for you?

The authorities are saying that they will come and rescue you. I don't know when but hopefully they will come soon. Ok darling, may God protect you.

Nareen: Thank God I feel better, at least I know now she's OK. I can breathe normally again.

Often when Nareen tries to call them, a member of the Islamic State answers the phone.

Nareen in the phone to IS about one of her friend,

Nareen: Hello, who are you?

IS: Who are you?

Nareen: Who are you?

IS What is going on? You called me.

Nareen: I am calling my friend. Who are you?

IS Who's your friend? Go away, mind your own business.

Nareen: Who are you? This is my friend's number, I don't have to tell you who I am. Who are you?

IS: I am from the Islamic state.

Nareen: Brother, we are asking about our families, what's wrong with that?

IS: Who is your friend?

Nareen: My friend's name is (beep sound)

IS Are you Beep's sister?

Nareen: No, she's my friend, where is she?

Where is she now? Please let me talk to her.

IS I am very far from her .

Nareen: If she's ok let me talk to her, we are getting bad news.

IS: All lies.

Nareen: OK if it's all lies then what's the truth?

IS: The truth is they're in IS hands, they will convert to Islam and live under IS protection.

Nareen: I hear you force the women to convert to Islam, that you kill those who refuse to convert, and marry those who do convert?

IS: No, no, this is not true.

Nareen: Some families give us phone numbers and we make calls for them and tell them to speak in Arabic and not your language. We let them talk to their families and then we destroy the sim cards. We can destroy thousands of sim cards every day and won't allow calls without permission.

Nareen has to find alternative ways of staying in touch the women.

Nareen at her computer or car explaining.

Nareen: I began gathering the names of kidnapped women through Facebook. I appealed for help in documenting the names of kidnapped women and girls, their ages and home towns in the Shingal area. People got in touch with me.

Car drive with Nareen in Duhok city center and outside the city.

Driving through Erbil streets to Duhok. Bad weather and Raining, Nareen at the back of the car talking to us.

Nareen is on her way to meet a 21-year-old woman who was captured by IS fighters, a payment was made for her release, she is from Kocho village where many women were captured,

The women agreed to be filmed, but wants to remain anonymous. Some members of her family are still in captivity.

Sound bites of Nareen sit down interview with the woman and archive montage.

Victim one: I saw everything, I saw girls being raped, I witnessed their torture, I saw babies separated from their mothers. Some children were 5 and 6 years old when they were taken from their families. They killed our fathers, uncles and everyone. There is no horror I haven't experienced. I lost my senses. There is nothing worse than rape. One of the leaders took a 13 year-old girl to his house, locked the room and told his children she is a Yazidi girl who converted to Islam, that he will teach her how to pray and read the quran. In fact he was raping her during that time. She told me she was there for three days and said ‘I was raped all that time'.

This video appeared on YouTube in mid-October, around the time when these women were held captive. Experts believe its genuine

IS Video

The video is still running

IS fighter one: Today is female slave (SABAYA) market day. It's a women's market day .It's distribution day. With the permission of Allah everyone gets a share. I hope a Jihadi will give me one as a gift.

IS fighter two: Hey you, where is my Yezidi girl?!

IS fighter one: Brothers, who wants to sell? I will buy them. Who want to sell his slave? I will buy her. If you want to give her away as a gift, I will take her.

IS fighter three: Who wants to sell?

IS fighter four: I sell.

IS fighter five: How much? 300 dollars?

IS fighter one: The price varies, if she has blue eyes... check her! Check her teeth!

IS fighter six: Can he own two?

IS fighter seven: Me and Faruq don't want any.

IS fighter eight: You want a Yezidi slave? Can you prove her that you are a man?

Victim one: I spoke to my cousin, she told me she was sold for 15 dollars. They consider Yazidi girls cheap. Some bought three or four girls for themselves.

Nareen: Have you seen this with your own eyes?

Victim one: No. I learned from my cousin that one of the IS fighters took four girls. They are my cousins, They are my cousins, two of them are sisters from Shingal. He has all four of them

Nareen in car, journey, etc.

Entering to Refugee camp

Nareen: We are now going to meet a young man. He is the only the survivor in his family.

Nareen is on her way to meet a Yezidi man whose entire family is been held hostage by the Islamic State group.

73 members of his family are held captive, he's the only one who escaped. His wife, mother, father and brothers are all kidnapped. He's trying to buy them back. He will explain to us how he's trying hard to buy their freedom.

Nareen in car. On the road Nareen talking in a car,

He now lives in a refugee camp

He is destitute but wants to buy back his family from IS. Nareen hopes she can help him.

The man has asked us to protect his identity.

In the tent we can't show the victims face,

Man: If I could, I would sacrifice myself for their release.

Nareen: Who even dares to go to IS to buy your captives?

Man I cannot answer this question, because if I say who they will capture him.

Nareen: Beep doesn't have the money for a bus ticket to go to Duhok, where we came from. At the same time he's trying hard to buy his family's freedom. They are 8 members, he's trying to find a way, but he hasn't got the money, and that's the problem. We cannot discuss more details in front of camera.

The man left his family to help in the Shingal mountains, but when he returned his own family was gone.

Man: I tried to go back home to bring some food and suppliers, but IS fighters occupied the house so I couldn't go back,

I lost my sisters and brothers, father and mother, cousin and all of my aunts, nobody escaped, and I don't know their fate.

Nareen: I'm sure in the near future you will be reunited with your family, and I will visit you and your family, I am 100% sure.

Man: Let me ask you why you are so sure?

Nareen: I'll tell you why when I visit you and your family, no one knows when, but they will return.

Shots of man.

The man told us he isn't even sure his relatives are alive, but he hasn't given up hope.

Nareen leaving the refugee camp after speaking to Dakhil. Nareen in car.

Nareen is one of many activists working to help their fellow Yazidis.

The Kurdish government also set up its own scheme to return people held captive by IS.

So far it has spent 1.5 million dollars on the scheme.

Some people accuse the government of encouraging IS by authorizing payments in exchange for people.

We contacted Dr Nori, a government official in charge of the scheme in Erbil and asked him to clarify.

He said the money goes to mediators and not to IS directly.

REF: Dr Nori Said that the money goes to negotiators not to IS directly.

REF: I recorded the phone call with him,

Nareen enters the corridor, children, shoes, etc.

Not everyone benefits from the government scheme, Some families spend their own money to buy back women held captive.

In Duhok a refugee family now living in a school brought back their 15 year-old daughter.

She has agreed to speak, on condition we do not show her face

REF: Adiba has agreed on camera to speak to us, on condition we do not reveal her identity

Car drive at night Nareen phone call to women in captivity,

Nareen: What did you see?

Girl: I saw everything,

Nareen: Like?

Girl: IS were selling girls and women, separating children from their mothers and were taking men and killing them.

Nareen: Did you see any of this with your own eyes?

Girl: I saw the killings.

WE NEED TO DUB HER VOICE, SH IS 15 YEARS OLD

This girl escaped her captors who taken her to Syria, Nareen helped her brother raise the fund to bring her home.

Girl's brother: I can't do anything without money. We had 1700 dollars and borrowed another 700 to bring back our sister.

Nareen: Would you go back to Shingal?

Girl: No.

Nareen: Why?

Girl: I do not want to return to Shingal and remember the ordeal the pain of Shingal.

The girl wasn't the only member of this family taken by IS.

Girl's brother: About 27 members of my family are held by IS, aged from 1 to 60 years.

Even if they could open up negotiations with the captors, The family can't afford to pay for the release of all their relatives.

But Nareen has a plan.

Nareen: A number of NGOs can help. First find a way to buy them back, then we can try the NGOs.

Girl's cousin: My sisters are in Syria, I don't know where exactly. All I know is they were taken to Syria from Iraq.

Nareen: I know that your sisters are alive and they will return.

Girl's cousin: Only in our dreams.

Nareen: They will return, I assure you and will remind you one day.

Nareen

Nareen faces the pain and frustration of families like this every day. And sometimes all she can do is keep their hopes alive,

Adiba's cousin to Namak:

Girl's cousin: She says my sisters will return? I challenge her: if my sisters return, I will put a bullet through my head.

Nareen: No you should stay alive to protect them and secure a happy life for them.

Girl's cousin: I challenge you because I can't see it happening.

Nareen: I sincerely believe we will never, ever leave our girls in the hands of IS. That's why I'm saying they will return, we won't abandon them. I'll remind you, believe me they will come back. I knew they were taken Raqqa, and eventually tracked them down,

We didn't know where this family's girl was, but now she's freed. Other girls were also held captive by IS but got released. I know the Yezidi families have been destroyed, but you can't lose hope and give up.

Girl's cousin: Just destroyed?!

Nareen speaks Kurdish here we need to subtitle Nareen here:

Namak question to Nareen.

Nareen cries.

Namak: We visited many families, you kept on telling them their loved ones will return. Why are you so optimistic? They didn't believe you, isn't that sad?

Nareen: CRIES...

Namak asked her in Kurdish, sub or dubbing?

Showing a video of her returning with family,

Sometimes Nareen's efforts pay off. Three weeks after filming this family one of their daughters came home. She help to raise fund to help this young woman's release,

Car entering the streets,

A lot of Nareen's information comes from those who managed to escape. Today she is going to meet Hamshe a pregnant young mother who was prepared to tell us on camera

REF: Hamshe told us that she doesn't mind to be on camera while her entire family were present,

Hamshe: They separated women from men and ordered men to lie face down,

Nareen: Who was being ordered?

Hamshe: My husband, his father and brother

Nareen: They ordered three men to lie face dwon?

Hamshe: Yes, I couldn't bear to look if they were killed but I heard the gun shots.

Nareen: But you saw them been forced to lie down on the ground?

Hamshe: Yes

Nareen: Is this the picture of you and your husband?

Hamshe: Yes.

Nareen: How old was your husband?

Hamshe: He was born in 1990.

Nareen: He was 24 years old, what about you?

Hamshe: I was born in 1995.

Nareen: What is the worst thing you have been through that you cannot forget?

Hamshe: I can never forget when they separated men from women.

Hamshe: it was very painful to witness women and girls being taken as trophies of war. Each IS fighter was holding the hand of a Yazidi girl and took her for himself. It was harder than facing death, hard to forget

Hamshe: When each of them took a Yezidi girl, one of them took me to his house and locked me inside a room and told me because you are refusing to marry me I will not give you food or water

Mamshe's Mother: I couldn't imagine that my daughter will come back. We thank God for that. Our family is destroyed. The Yezidi community has been destroyed. This tragedy has done us enough damage for the rest of our lives.

Hamshe: They forced the Yazidi girls to donate blood to IS wounded fighters. Which God allows these acts?

Nareen: What did you just say?

Hamshe: They forced the Yazidi girls to donate blood to IS wounded fighters.

Nareen: I work on the Yazidi cases every day. This is the first time I've heard such a thing, they even take our girls and old women's blood. They use it for their wounded IS fighters.

Nareen: You are now pregnant?

Hamshe: Yes.

Nareen: How do you see the future of your child?

REF: Hamshe told us.

Hamshe: It's very hard. How can I raise him? How can I raise him without a father? I don't know what to do. We don't even have a house and the winter is here. I'm always worried about these things. They use it to save their wounded men

Yazidi culture is deeply conservative but Hamshe's family standing by her

Hamshe brother in-law: In the past if a Yezidi girl ran away from family, converted to another religion, had a sexual relationship outside marriage, or was raped, the punishment was death. Our community had this negative practice against women. But in the 21st century this is no longer acceptable in our community.

Hamshe was not alone when she was captured. Her two year-old baby was with her.

Hamshe: One night my baby was crying from thirst. I knocked at the door but they didn't open it for us. I broke the door and saw all the guards sleeping outside. I took a bottle of water from them and I ran away with my baby and walked for four hours. An Arab man saw me and asked: -Are you Yezidi? I said -Yes. He said -What are you doing here? I said -IS took me. He said -Come to my house, I will find a way to help you. I stayed there for three days. They took good care of me. Then they drove me to a Peshmerga checkpoint in Barda Rash

Hamshe's brother: After she returned we started to look at her differently. We reopened our hearts to her. It felt like we have a new lease of life. Hamshe's return was like that for us. We were reborn.

Hamshe never revealed the details of what really happened to her during her 28 days in captivity.

Outside Hamshe's house on street. We see Hamshe walking out.

Nareen: I feel much better than the last time I saw her. Last time she was very weak, she couldn't sit for long time, she was psychologically disturbed. I feel happy seeing her family. They made her better. It was so good to see her child look better. Last time he couldn't walk. I wish her future could change, because we need her and others to be able to get on with their lives.

Showing the video of Rudaw, father embrace daughter, emotional,

Over 300 women have been released since August 2014.

Some were bought, some escaped, and some were freed.

In this footage shot by a Kurdish TV station, a father is about to embrace his daughter for the first time in months.

It is estimated that over 2600 women remain captive.

Nareen continues her struggle for their return.

REF: Nareen has set up her own database and she told me she has the name of 300 women who escaped IS captive,

REF: this video was shown on Rudaw TV station in November, they have blurred the victims, I spoke to the producer of the documentary( TOP STORY) he said that we can use the footage, they must have asked them to be filmed,

Nareen: I will continue in my mission until the situation changes. The most important thing is to try and free the enslaved women and girls.

END CREDITS.