Of Fathers and Sons

A piercing documentary that takes us inside one of the many jihadi rebel groups fighting in Syria. Director Talal Derki follows his renowned documentary Return to Homs with this moving portrait of a jihadi household – a family belonging to the al-Nusra front, allied to al-Qaeda, and fighting both IS and Assad. The grown-ups in the family are both caring parents and ruthless warriors. However, the documentary`s focus is on the children, and their heartbreaking journey from being playful kids to becoming soldiers of the same conviction as the rest of the family. Of Fathers and Sons does not attempt to paint a broad picture of the war in Syria. Instead, the film sharpens its focus on how the war plays out on the ground for a select group of people. The result is a unique portrait of a world that journalists seldom get access to.

Talal Derki (b.1977) is a Syrian director, producer, and writer. He studied film in Greece, and graduated in 2003. His shorts and documentaries has been screened at festivals worldwide, and his documentary Return to Homs won the Jury Award at Sundance. Today, Derki lives in exile in Germany.