Screening of “The Extremist and Me” Documentary

A former neo-Nazi and a former Islamist extremist sit down for a single conversation to uncover the surprising and uncomfortable truths they have in common.

The documentary was produced as an impact part of the ESRC-funded research project “Everyday transnationalism of the right. An interdisciplinary study of Polish immigrants’ engagement with groups on the right-wing spectrum in the UK” conducted at London Metropolitan University. Producer: Dr Anna Jochymek (LMU), Executive Producers: Prof. Michal P. Garapich (LMU) and Prof. Rafal Soborski (Richmond). This is their second film produced as part of this research project; the first one, That Boy, was premiered in April 2025 at the European Parliament.

The film brings Mirek and Sohail together not to debate politics, but to confront the haunting parallels of their pasts. By reducing the frame to nothing but their dialogue, the film creates an intense, unshielded space where neither they, nor the audience can retreat from hard truths. What emerges is not a clash of ideologies, but a revelation of the shared human vulnerabilities such as identity, belonging, and purpose, that can be twisted by trauma into violence and hate. What emerges is not a simple story of redemption, but a complex portrait of two men forced to confront their shared trauma, acknowledgment of the harm they caused and reconciliation with a monstrous past. It is a testament to the power of direct dialogue and an urgent antidote to the dehumanization that defines our time (Adam Janisch, Director of The Extremist and Me)