Of Fathers and Sons
This is a really really intense documentary. It’s not one of those documentaries you just sit down and watch for fun. Director Talal Derki basically embedded himself into a family of Al Qaeda supporters for two and a half years. At the beginning of the film Abu Osama tells Derki and the camera that his sons (Osama and Ayman) are named for those who helped plan and execute the attacks on September 11. So that’s the level of devotion to the cause we are dealing with here. Derki and the camera are mere observers, just capturing the daily life of this family. We follow the father of the family, Abu Osama, as he searches for and disables mines and bombs. It’s like The Hurt Locker but in real life and you get a front row seat to the dangers that he deals with on a daily basis. Derki also features the kids a lot. Osama and Ayman are the main focus but there are about eight or nine other kids that run around together. While their dad is off disabling mines, the kids are running around jumping over objects and wrestling with each other. It’s a seemingly typical boyhood experience except for the huge prevalence of violence that is almost always present. The kids are often surrounded by guns, bombs, knives etc. At one point the group of boys makes a bomb and stomp on it until it blows up. And you can tell it’s totally normal for them. You also get to see how early the beliefs are instilled in the boys. They go to a jihadist preparatory camp and run drills and receive history/religious lessons. They immediately go from wearing tee shirts and shorts to wearing full out military style garb complete with balaclavas. No longer are they boys, they are soldiers for the cause. I was amazed at the access Derki was able to get and I wonder about his own mental health after such an intense filming process. This was such a powerful look at a world we don’t usually get much access to.
Film or Movie: Film
You’ll like this film if:
1. You’re politically engaged
2. You like bare bones documentary style films
3. You want to see what life is like in a radical Islamic family
