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Germany, United States, Syria · 2017
1h 39m
Director Talal Derki
Starring Abu Osama
Genre Documentary, War
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Syrian director Talal Derki returns to his homeland to document the daily life of a radical Islamist family. After gaining their trust, Derki closely follows brothers Osama and Ayman, providing an extremely rare insight into what it means to grow up with a father whose only dream is to establish an Islamic Caliphate.
The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg
Of Fathers and Sons is ultimately more impressive for its access than it is revealing of drives or beliefs. If Derki’s goal was to capture what causes ideology to spread, he and his camera look without seeing.
RogerEbert.com by Brian Tallerico
Watching young men become militarized is one of those gut-churning documentary topics. And yet the main subject of Of Fathers and Sons would argue that this is the only path to freedom and to happiness. The best parts of Talal Derki’s award-winning film not only seek to understand that but to reason with it.
The Film Stage by Daniel Schindel
Of Fathers and Sons is a vital addition to the cultural picture of the Syrian conflict.
The film's verité approach risks humanizing Abu Osama, but we eventually gain a complex understanding of the banality of his evil.
The result is as despairing as any portrait of close-knit family and dedicated parenthood can be, adeptly blending sensationalism with domestic intimacy, and sincerely eye-opening in its portrayal of inherited Islamist fervor.
The Hollywood Reporter by Neil Young
An admirably audacious feat of documentarian access, Of Fathers and Sons is of obvious topical and anthropological interest as a glimpse into the gradual radicalization of young males and the deep community ties which underpin the process.
Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele
The nuances in Derki’s portraits are what deepen the elements that could easily have been a distancing turnoff.
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