Beverley Giesbrecht in Egypt Beverley Giesbrecht in Egypt

The Woman Who Joined The Taliban is the personal and tragic story of a woman’s quest for truth amidst the global war on terrorism.

Beverley Giesbrecht is a publishing executive and devout Christian living near Vancouver, when the events of September 11th change her life. Within seven months, she converts to Islam and begins a journey that takes her to the heart of Taliban territory in the mountains of Pakistan.

Listen to an interview with Kai Lawrence, the director and Glen Cooper who was a close friend of Beverley Giesbrecht's on The Current.

As a Canadian Muslim convert, Giesbrecht sees herself as a bridge between two warring cultures. Her website Jihad Unspun presents the radical Islamist's views to readers in Canada and the West. Determined to present an alternate view of militant Islam, she travels as a journalist to the most dangerous place on earth – the Taliban-controlled mountains of Pakistan - to make a first person documentary.

But before she can finish her project, she is betrayed and taken captive by Taliban fighters who are convinced she is an American spy.

This film sets out to investigate the strange circumstances surrounding Beverley’s kidnapping amidst Islamic fundamentalism, shifting allegiances and political intrigue in the lawless tribal territories on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Beverley’s story will also illuminate why some people in Western societies become drawn to Islamic extremism — sometimes with disastrous consequences.

What drives a woman to swap a business suit for a burqa?

Why would someone abandon a lush seaside home in a wealthy Vancouver suburb for a madrassa in Egypt? And turn to Salafi Islam?



Beverley Giesbrecht wearing a burqa. Beverley Giesbrecht wearing a burqa.

We will ask what authorities knew once it was clear Beverley had been kidnapped, and why they appeared to give up on trying to find out what had happened to her.

With exclusive access to the video footage shot by Beverley herself, we follow her journey into the heart of the Taliban and her transformation from an admirer and defender of jihadist Islamism to disillusioned victim, until her final betrayal by her Taliban protector.

At its heart, The Woman Who Joined the Taliban is the tragic story of a lost woman looking for meaning and a home, but who walks into hell.

Beverley was never able to bring home the film she meant to make. This film will bring her extraordinary story to light.