Of Fathers and Sons

Director Talal Derki, who made the successful film Return to Homs, says his father taught him: “If you want to tame your nightmares, you need to capture them first.” He went back to his native Syria and, for two years, he lived in the desert in the north of the country with the family of a radical Muslim and fighter for the Al-Nusra Front. The result is a unique study of Islamic radicalization. Abu Osama has replaced his children’s textbooks with weapons and is preparing them for a holy war. While Ayman (12) would rather go to school, Osama (13) obediently follows the path of jihad. Intimate family moments intermingle with fanaticism on a daily basis.