Of Father and Sons

Talal Derki, a Syrian filmmaker slash activist now living in exile in Berlin, secretly returned to explore the roots of the radicalism that is tearing his country apart. Concentrating on Islamic militancy, Derki lived with Abu Osama, one of the founders of Al-Nusra, the Syrian arm of Al-Qaeda, and his two eldest sons, Osama and Ayman, 13 and 12, as they were being readied for jihadist camp. Derki captures the chilling complexity of a father who loves his sons, and in the name of that love is eager for them to die martyrs. Won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, World Cinema, at Sundance.