Sundance award-winning director of RETURN TO HOMS, Talal Derki, returned to his homeland for his new feature
OF FATHERS AND SONS
showing in competition @ IDFA AMSTERDAM Germany, Syria, Lebanon 2017 – 98 min. – language: Arabic with English subtitles [Competition - Feature-length documentary]
After his Sundance award-winning documentaryReturn to Homs, Talal Derki returned to his homeland where he gained the trust of a radical Islamist family, sharing their daily life for over two years. His camera focuses mainly on the children, providing an extremely rare insight into what it means to grow up with a father whose only dream is to establish an Islamic Caliphate. Osama (13) and his brother Ayman (12) are in the center of the story. They both love and admire their father and obey his words, but while Osama seems to follow the path of Jihad, Ayman wants to go back to school.The film captures the moment when the children have to let go of theiryouth and are finally turned into Jihadi fighters. No matter how close the war comes—one thing they have already learned: they must not cry.
Screenings
15 Nov 2017 - 14:20 - Tuschinski 1 - VPRO Preview
18 Nov 2017 - 16:00 - Tuschinski 1 - Of Fathers and Sons
19 Nov 2017 - 12:45 - Tuschinski 5 - Of Fathers and Sons
20 Nov 2017 - 16:00 - Munt 12 - Industry & Press screening: Of Fathers and Sons
20 Nov 2017 - 21:15 - Munt 09 Of Fathers and Sons
21 Nov 2017 - 16:15 - EYE Cinema 1 - Of Fathers and Sons + Doc Talk
24 Nov 2017 - 14:20 - Tuschinski 1 - VPRO Review
25 Nov 2017 - 21:45 - Munt 12 - Of Fathers and Sons
Talent in Amsterdam
Talal Derki (Nov 15-23)
Talal Derki was born in Damascus and is based in Berlin since 2014. He studied film directing in Athens and worked as an assistant director for many feature film productions and was a director for different Arab TV programs between 2009 and 2011. Furthermore, he worked as a freelance cameraman for CNN and Thomson & Reuters. Talal Derki’s short films and feature length documentaries received many awards at a variety of festivals. His feature documentary RETURN TO HOMS has won the Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prize in 2014. The same year, he was also a member of the international Jury at IDFA.
