Eternal Sentinel follows Maryam Ashrafi’s journey as she meets journalists who have been wounded or have witnessed deadly incidents involving landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq and Syria. Through personal stories—including Maryam’s own trauma—the film sheds light on the urgent issue of landmines and IEDs, which claimed the lives of 31 journalists in Iraq and 14 in Syria between 2000 and 2022. By sharing these experiences, the film aims to open a conversation about the mental health challenges faced by journalists working in conflict zones, while also highlighting the long-term consequences of war—particularly the persistent threat posed by landmines and IEDs.

Maryam Ashrafi is a Paris-based Iranian photographer. Born in Tehran during the Iran and Iraq war, Maryam's passion for sociology led her to pursue work on social and socio-political issues across the world. She has focused on refugees in Paris, the mobilization of the Kurdish and Iranian diasporas, the Indignant Movement in Paris, as well as riots in Paris following different social and political issues around the world. As a freelance independent photographer, she has covered the aftermath of wars from Kobane in Northern Syria to Sinjar in Iraqi Kurdistan. Her work on Kurdish resistance movements has been the subject of several exhibitions and publications, including in The Guardian. Her first book, Rising Among Ruins, Dancing Amid Bullets (2021), documents the consequences of war and the lives of civilians returning to their homes. Her long-term work on Kurdish issues has also driven her to work as a camerawoman in documentaries I Am The Revolution and Eternal Sentinel.