Winner of Sundance's Grand Jury Prize, exiled Syrian filmmaker Talal Derki returns home posing as a jihad-sympathizing war photographer and discovers a stark reality in this haunting portrait of generational warfare. For over two years Derki lives with the family of Abu Osama, an Al-Nusra fighter in a small village in northern Syria. Providing the viewer with a unique dilemma, Derki focuses the camera mainly on Abu's children, Osama and Ayman, as they admire their loving father in tender scenes of family bonding. These are juxtaposed with scenes where they're exposed to imminent if not absurd danger. Inside a disturbing jihadist camp for children, Osama and Ayman, armed with heavy artillery, jump through literal hoops of fire on their road to radicalization. In his bold and chilling sophomore effort, Derki achieves an unprecedented level of access while balancing the horrors of war and the intimacy of family. Ravi Srinivasan
Co-presented with Syria Film Festival.