Islamism Dossier
A series of four explainer videos commissioned by Germany’s Federal Agency for Civic Education examines the issues of Islamism, Salafism, radicalization, and terrorism.
Task
The Federal Agency for Civic Education hired us to plan and produce an extensive video dossier about Islamism, Salafism, and radicalizaton.
It was important for the videos to give easy-to-understand introductions to each topic, but also to explore their complex contexts in greater depth. Meanwhile, the videos reflected the debate in society by incorporating expert interviews.
The sensitivity of the topic and the customer’s commitment to the Beutelsbach Consensus standards for civic and religious education in Germany necessitated both extensive subject-matter expertise and a sharp eye for subtle thematic and visual details.
What is Islamism?
The dossier begins with a traditional animated explainer video about Islamism, which sets the tone for the entire series with its neutral visual language and measured presentation of the information.
Radicalization of Muslims
Two more videos show how certain young Muslims in German become radicalized, the underlying causes, and preventative measures. At the core of the videos are extensive interviews with some of the leading experts in the field, whom we recruited for the project and videos, including Mouhanad Khorchide, Christine Schirrmacher, Ahmad Mansour, Guido Steinberg, and Marwan Abou Taam.
Strategies against Radicalization
Each video begins and ends with an animated sequence: preceding the interviews with an educational introduction to each topic and following it with a recap that explains the interviews’ main points. This makes the experts’ arguments accessible to laypeople.
Between Freedom and Security
The dossier concludes with a video explaining the trade-offs between freedom and security. For this video, we were pleased to secure the participation of experts such as Julian Nida-Rümelin and Holger Münch.The dossier concludes with a video explaining the trade-offs between freedom and security. For this video, we were pleased to secure the participation of experts such as Julian Nida-Rümelin and Holger Münch.