A heart-wrenching new film recounts the beheadings 10 years ago this week of 21 Coptic Christians at the hands of ISIS radicals.   

Yet the film, simply titled "The 21," also tells the poignant story of the martyrs' incredible faith, how they were diligent to the end — never once denying their Savior even unto death.

Producer Mandi Hart said, "I don't know that I'll ever get over imagining, in the course of 40-some-odd days of captivity, how many nanoseconds of opportunity they had to save their own lives. And to a man, all 21 of them were true to the end."

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Hart and the team at MORE Productions presented the 13-minute film at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C., last week. It was a jolting reminder of how the events of Feb. 15, 2015, shocked the world — one, for the sheer horror of its staging, and two, because the Islamic radicals filmed the brutal slayings.

As a way to soften the horror and enhance the spirit of hope, "The 21" tells the story through animation — intercut with actual ISIS propaganda footage. 

But it's the imagery of the animation that gives it greater impact. The animation is in the style of Orthodox iconography — the paintings of the saints and of Jesus that adorn the iconostas, the screens in front of the altar, on the nave, the sanctuary and the dome of every Orthodox church in the world.  

Hart said, "We knew that we wanted a project that would reflect the cultural distinctiveness of the Coptic tradition, particularly its iconography."  

She called out its "function," as well as its architecture and community — and "the symbolism, colors, shapes and the way that iconography was actually all about creating an icon."

On a recent episode of "Lighthouse Faith" podcast, producer Mandi Hart spoke more about the making of "The 21" — and the transformative power of learning about what these men endured for their faith.

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They were simple laborers from Egypt, working in Libya, when ISIS members kidnapped them and demanded they denounce their faith in Jesus Christ, the only condition to secure their freedom. 

The men refused. For a month and a half, the men were tortured and abused. Then they were put in orange jumpsuits and paraded to a sandy hill where masked, knife-wielding radicals lined them up and took their lives.

Hart said the most barbarous part of the story is actually not in the new film. 

"They were actually beheaded one by one," she said. "And ISIS did that, hoping that … being killed in that gruesome way would persuade at least one of the men to recant, to save themselves by denying Christ. And none of them did. And actually one of the men asked to be the last one."  

Hart added with emotion, "There are no words [about] the depth of [their] faith. And it's been extremely challenging and convicting personally, too. I can't imagine myself in that position — and the fact that all of them were true to the end is just remarkable."

Hart purposely did not view the ISIS footage of the beheadings. It was just too much to take. But director Tod Polson did.

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He told Fox News, "The original video made by ISIS is surreal. I’ve only seen it once but …[it is] forever burned into my memory. It’s as heartbreaking as it is inspiring. Inspiring because the sacrifice of the martyrs is so total. It’s one thing to talk about their faithfulness. It’s another to see it demonstrated close up." 

Polson also said, "Many of the martyrs' families play the original ISIS video in their homes on a loop. One of the complaints they have is that ‘The 21’ isn’t violent enough. They want people outside their community to know what their men went through."

ISIS filmed their abomination for the purpose of propaganda and power, believing they would usher in a new caliphate for the glory of Islam.  

But transcripts from interviews of ISIS members conducted by authorities revealed that there were other supernatural powers also at work on that sandy hill. 

This is new information.

Said Hart, "In the interviews with the former ISIS members, one in particular talks about earthquakes. He talks about shadowy figures being seen and some of the figures bearing swords, others dressed in certain ways accompanying the martyrs, particularly when the martyrs were on the beach."

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The film depicts those supernatural occurrences. 

The shadowy figures appear as angels of light, perhaps even Jesus Himself. 

On that sandy beach a decade ago, those men may have witnessed God’s holy army and the forces of Satan in their ancient battle. 

And at least one member of ISIS was shaken to the core.

Hart said one ISIS member was so terrified by what he saw that he fled. Reports are that he came to faith and was baptized. He remains in hiding, according to Hart.

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The larger story has been the display of the depths of faith of the entire Coptic community. "Coptic" means Egyptian. The Coptic are one of the original Christian Orthodox churches. 

For 2,000 years, they've been a persecuted church. 

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And some scholars, said Hart, think they've had millions of martyrs over the course of their history, past and present. 

The 21 martyrs asked that Jesus forgive their killers — just as Jesus said, while being crucified, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

At a time when it’s more acceptable to publicly profane the name of Jesus than to praise Him, the film shows the power of that name — and how the men relied on it for strength, for hope.

Hart reflected on the greater good that came out of such evil. 

She said the Coptic archbishop of London, Archbishop Angaelos, told her to think about when that former ISIS member who became a believer dies. 

Those 21 Coptic men will welcome him into heaven as their brother — as only in Christ can natural-born enemies become one people.

Austrian authorities said Sunday that the suspect who they believe fatally stabbed a 14-year-old boy and wounded five others in the village of Villach is a Syrian refugee who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. 

At a press conference, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the 23-year-old Syrian national was arrested seven minutes after Saturday's attack unfolded in the village of just about 60,000 people bordering Italy and Slovenia. 

"This is an Islamist attack with an IS connection by an attacker who radicalized himself within a very short time via the internet online," Karner told reporters, according to the Associated Press. 

Regarding mass migration and asylum-seekers, Karner, a conservative, said it will ultimately be necessary to "carry out a mass screening without cause because this assassin was not conspicuous." 

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"There's compassion, there's sadness, but in these moments there's also understandably often anger and rage," Karner added, according to Reuters. "Anger at an Islamist attacker who randomly stabbed innocent people here in this town."

The attack came a day after Vice President JD Vance rebuked European leaders at the Munich Security Conference over mass migration, as well as crackdowns on free speech. 

As authorities revealed the alleged "Islamic terror motive," Austria's far-right leader Herbert Kickl, whose party won a national election four months ago, called for "a rigorous crackdown on asylum" in the wake of the attack.

Kickl wrote on X Saturday that he is "appalled by the horrific act in Villach."

"At the same time, I am angry – angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rapes, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life," Kickl said.

"From Austria to the EU – the wrong rules are in force everywhere. Nobody is allowed to challenge them, everything is declared sacrosanct," he said, adding that his party had outlined what he viewed as necessary changes to immigration laws in its election platform.

The suspect is charged with murder and attempted murder. Austrian police said the suspect recorded himself pledging allegiance to IS, according to Reuters. 

State police director Michaela Kohlweiß said authorities searched the suspect’s apartment with sniffer dogs and found IS flags on the walls. 

No weapons or dangerous objects were found, she added, but police seized mobile telephones. Police were investigating whether the suspect had any accomplices.

"The current picture is that of a lone perpetrator," Kohlweiß said, according to the AP. 

Carinthia State Gov. Peter Kaiser thanked another Syrian national, a 42-year-old man working for a food delivery company, who drove toward the suspect and helped prevent the situation from getting worse. 

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"This shows how closely terrorist evil but also human good can be united in one and the same nationality," Kaiser said. 

The mayor of Villach, Guenther Albel, said the attack was a "stab in the heart of the city."

Austrian conservative party leader Christian Stocker said on X that the attacker "must be brought to justice and be punished with the full force of the law."

"We all want to live in a safe Austria, adding that this means political measures need to be taken to avoid such acts of horror in the future," he said.

The day before Vance visited the Munich Security Conference, an Afghan refugee on Thursday plowed a car into a crowd in the German city, injuring dozens of people, including a mother and her 2-year-old daughter, who later died. 

"The number of immigrants who entered the EU from non-EU countries doubled between 2021 and 2022 alone, and of course, it's gotten much higher since," Vance said Friday. "It's the result of a series of conscious decisions made by politicians all over the continent. Others across the world over the span of a decade. We saw the horrors wrought by these decisions yesterday in this very city. And of course, I can't bring it up again without thinking about the terrible victims who had a beautiful winter day in Munich ruined. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and will remain with them. But why did this happen in the first place?" 

"It's a terrible story, but it's one we've heard way too many times in Europe, and unfortunately too many times in the United States as well," Vance said. "An asylum seeker, often a young man in his mid-20s, already known to police, rams a car into a crowd and shatters a community. How many times must we suffer these appalling setbacks before we change course and take our shared civilization in a new direction?" 

The stabbing in Villach on Saturday marked what is believed to be the second deadly Islamic terror attack in Austria in recent years. In November 2020, a man who had previously attempted to join the Islamic State carried out a rampage in Vienna, armed with an automatic rifle and a fake explosive vest, killing four people before being fatally shot by police. Last August, Austrian authorities said they thwarted a planned attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna by a teenager who had also allegedly pledged allegiance to IS.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.