“A young girl lying unconscious on the streets, possibly dead after an airstrike; a young boy carrying an infant in his hands crying for help; the heart-breaking pleas of a young Iraqi girl who lost her arm and her brothers and father in the war … these were the moments I had to stop filming to process what I was seeing,” said Czech videographer Jana Andert, while sharing her experience of documenting wars with audiences at the sixth edition of Xposure International Photography Festival.

Jana Andert spent almost eight months between 2014 and 2017 with elite Iraqi Special Forces documenting their fight against Daesh. Filming in Syria and Iraq, the photographer recollected her harrowing first-hand experiences during the operation to liberate Mosul.

In an interaction with moderator Ray Wells, Andert who presented her documentary Inside The War On ISIS – now streaming on Amazon Prime, said: “There was this one particular instant when I thought I would die. It was in the middle of an operation, and we were surrounded by ISIS. They were in a house right next to ours and the grenade attack went on for three full hours.”

The documentary was shot during Andert’s time on the frontlines with the special forces, who went on to lose half of their commandos in the fierce fighting for Iraq’s second city. Describing how she gained their trust, Andertsaid: “I followed two soldiers – Salman and Mohammed. Mohammed spoke fluent English and treated me like his sister, making me trust him and his men. I still hear from him occasionally.”

“It wasn’t easy to begin with. Initially the men had problems sharing the same space with me!” joked Andert, as she went on to narrate the start of her perilous journey that took her to a Daesh prison in Al Hasakah in Northern Syria and inside the camps of Kurdish female fighters.

Andert, who now lives in Prague, said her interest in the region was inspired by images of her grandfather who once served in Syria as a diplomat. “Some of his old photos from Syria got me interested in that country and the region. I had visited in 2008 before the war and travelled from north to south and found it absolutely amazing and I wanted to be there when the war broke out.”

Andert, who worked previously as a fashion photographer, stated that she felt “incomplete” in that role. She said: “I wanted to do something that has a social impact and that’s what got me to the frontlines of war. I am glad I survived to tell my story to the world!”

Organised by Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), Xpsoure 2022 continues its run at Expo Centre Sharjah from 10am to 10pm until Tuesday, February 15.