OF FATHERS AND SONS
Talal Derki | Syria, Lebanon, Germany 2017 | 98 Min. | OmeU
In Of Fathers and Sons Talal Derki returned to his native Syria. Presenting himself as a war journalist, he wins the trust of a radical Islamist family. While the „soldiers of Allah“ go to war, he focuses the camera on the brothers Osama and Ayman. For two years he accompanies the everyday life of the brothers, providing an extremely rare insight into what it means to grow up with a father whose only dream is to establish an Islamic Caliphate. With an open attitude, Derki allows us insight into a father-son relationship dominated by patriarchy, Jihad education, and Islamist radicalisation that offers little opportunities to be a child.
Director: Talal Derki
Camera: Kahtan Hasson
Editing: Anne Fabini
Sound: Sebastian Tesch
Producer: Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias Siebert, Hans Robert Eisenhauer
Music: K.S. Elias
Awards
Grand Jury Prize (World Documentary), Sundance Film Festival
Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Special Jury Mention, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Audience Award (International), Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
DocEdge Award, Documentary Edge Festival
Movies That Matter Award, ZagrebDox
Special Jury Prize, Valletta Film Festival
Main Feature Award, SWR Doku Festival
Fritz-Gerlich-Preis, Munich Film Festival
Best Feature Documentary, Madrid International Documentary Film Festival
Silver Star, El Gouna International Film Festival
Nominated Best Documentary Feature, 91st Academy Awards®
Nominated Best Documentary Feature, IDA Documentary Awards
Nominated Best Writing, IDA Documentary Awards
Nominated Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking, Cinema Eye Honors
Nominated Outstanding Achievement in Direction, Cinema Eye Honors
Nominated Outstanding Achievement in Production, Cinema Eye Honors
Nominated “Unforgettables” Nonfiction Subjects of 2018, Cinema Eye Honors
Nominated Best European Documentary, European Film Awards
Filmography as director
2017 OF FATHERS AND SONS , feature documentary (98min)
2016 Ode to Lesvos, short documentary (5min)
2013 Return to Homs , feature documentary (90min)
2010 Hero of the Sea , documentary (28min)
2005 A whole line of trees , short film, 35 mm (8min)
2003 Hello Damascus goodbye Damascus , short film, 16mm (12min)
Biography
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 diff erent
Arab TV programs between 2009 and 2011. Furthermore, he worked as a freelance cameraman for
CNN and Thomson & Reuters. Talal Derkis short films and feature length documentaries received
many awards at a varietyof festivals. His feature documentary RETURN TO HOMS has won the
Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Grand JuryPrize in 2014. The same year, he was al member
of the international Jury at IDFA.
