James Foley.
Photo: Steven Senne/Corbis
HBO has acquired the television rights to Brian Oakes’s documentary Jim: The James Foley Story, which tells the story of reporter James Foley, who was murdered by members of ISIS in 2014 after being kidnapped two years earlier. Foley had been working as a freelance war correspondent in Syria when he was taken hostage and beheaded in a recorded video, apparently as a response to the U.S. strikes in Iraq. “I made this film to carry on the stories that Jim needed us to know,” said Oakes, who was a childhood friend of Foley’s. “It’s important that we understand the significant role of today’s conflict journalists and why they risk their lives to tell the world how bad it can be.” Jim will premiere at Sundance and air on HBO on February 6.
