The phrase “bringing a knife to a gunfight” never seemed more apt as I watched Talal Derki’s 2019 Oscar nominated documentary Of Fathers and Sons. Derki, a native Syrian who now resides in Berlin, has created a work of extreme importance as it relates to understanding certain aspects of the perpetual War on Terror that, as of 2019, has pretty much touched the four corners of the world. Derki isn’t concerned about the politics or economics of said conflict though. He’s concerned more about the people; both those who have had their lives upended through conflict and those who claim to be fighting to create a better country for all. It also needs to be said that Derki literally risked…

ليس من المستغرب الإحتفاء بفيلم (عن الأباء و الأبناء) لصاحبه طلال ديركي بعد تجربته الأولى (العودة إلى حمص) و ليس من المستغرب أيضاً فوزه بأوسكار أفضل فيلم وثائقي لاحقاً هذه السنة , فهذه المادة المقدمة أكثر نضجاً و تمكيناً من أي مادة أخرى على الصعيد الفني و الفكري التي تناولت هذا الموضوع من قبل , طلال ديركي يغادر برلين تاركاً ورائه زوجته و إبنه الصغير إلى ريف إدلب في مغامرة طويلة لا يعرف متى يمكن أن تنتهي تتطلب منه قلباً شجاعاً وحاضراً بقوة مخاطراً بحياته و بكل ما يملكه إلى أحد معسكرات الدولة الإسلامية (جبهة النصرة) مقنعاً إياهم أنه من أنصار الجهاد الإسلامي و أنه أحد مصوري الحرب ليرصد فيلماً عن بطولاتهم و قضى معهم حوالي السنتين من العمر لأجل…

Die Filmcrew Deutschlandchallenge 2024

Der in Damaskus geborene, mittlerweile in Berlin lebende, Talal Derki kehrte nach Syrien zurück und gab sich sls pro-dschihadistischer Journalist aus. Damit erlangte er das Vertrauen von Abu Osama, eines ideologiegefestigten Al-Nusra-Kämpfers, und lebte zwei Jahre bei ihm und seiner Familie, die aus acht Kindern und zwei Ehefrauen (die man allerdings niemals sieht) besteht.
Derki gelangen auf diese Weise äußerst intime Einblicke in den Alltag des Krieges und des Fanatismus.
Er verzichtet dabei fast gänzlich auf erklärende Off-Kommentare und stellt nur wenige Fragen. Das Gezeigte ist eindrücklich genug.
Immer wieder, wenn ich dachte, jetzt kann es nicht mehr schlimmer werden, gibt es eine Steigerung. Sei es, wenn Abu Osama von seinem Leben erzählt, während er auf…

[6]

This is the first film in recent memory that I came close to turning off, repeatedly, not out of boredom but because its subject was just too painful to watch. I made it through, but at times I found myself grappling with the ethics of a film that, by nature of its design, entails watching as otherwise normal little boys are systematically turned into monsters, their minds poisoned by a deadly jihadist ideology. Knowing that they will all squander their young lives getting blown to bits for Al Nusra, Of Fathers and Sons is a bit like watching children play in traffic.

But of course, it's not that simple. These are the sons of Abu Osama, who is shown…

An unbiased, unprejudiced & unfiltered observation of jihadist life and how extremist ideology is passed down through lineage, Of Fathers and Sons paints a brutally honest & unflinching portrait of children being brainwashed into following the path of hatred & violence by their own fathers, and it does so by capturing the everyday life of a radical Islamist family.

Of Fathers and Sons follows director Talal Derki as he returns to war-torn Syria under the guise of a war photojournalist claiming to be sympathetic towards Salafi jihadism, and gains the trust of an Al-Nusra Front militant’s family who allow him to document their daily lives. Filming the family for over two years, his camera records the indoctrination of these kids bred for one…

German-Syrian film maker Derki spent two years in Syria disguising himself as a jihadist sympathizer while embedding himself within a family involved in an al-Quida affiliated group in revolt against the Assad regime. Abu Osama (a pseudonym) was the 40ish, bearded father of eight children, avowed partisan and fan of the Afghani Taliban. Of his children, we only follow the boys, never see the mother or girls at all. The father is a confirmed jihadist, who until an accident off screen which cost him a foot, was a sapper for his group, finding and disarming mines. The father's story in itself, his dedication to his cause up close and personal, would make in interesting documentary.

But this extraordinarily intimate and…

This documentary would deserve 5 stars for the political brisance, the staging (no explaining uncle or any other babble guy in the background, no judgement) and for the danger the director and his team put themselves into.

Little surprising, the camera and the angles aren´t outstanding. I wouldn´t expect this from a documentary like this, but this is the reason why I rated it with four stars and not with 5.

The content gives me the creeps and I do hope that these religious fanatics from arabic countries are never going to manage to come to Europe in larger numbers...

Traumatized, uneducated and religous fanatics without perspectives are the most dangerous people.

The director accompanied a father and his children…