Nat Geo Sets September Launch for ISIS Drama The State

National Geographic is gearing up to launch its new drama The State, written and directed by Golden Globe and BAFTA Award winner Peter Kosminsky, globally this September.

A fictional story based on extensive research, The State follows the experiences of four young British men and women who have left their lives behind to join ISIS in Raqqah, Syria. The scripted series is slated to premiere as a two-night event on September 18 and 19. Nat Geo will roll out the drama around the world, excluding in the U.K., where it will air on Channel 4, and France, where CANAL+ is the broadcaster.

Kosminsky commented, “ISIS and its adherents have caused pain and suffering the world over. But unless we understand why some of our young men and women chose to give up the lives they were living and travel to Syria and why men and women born and brought up in our liberal democracies opt to lay down those lives in its name, how can we ever hope to combat its nihilistic creed? Based on detailed and extensive research carried out over many months, The State is an attempt to grapple with these questions and to address through drama one of the most troubling issues of our age.”