Of Fathers and Sons (2018)

The filmmaker, Talal Derki, is a Syrian man who now lives in Berlin.  To make this documentary, which is nominated for an Academy Award, he lived with Abu Osama, a leader in Al-Nusra, the Syrian arm of Al-Qaeda.  This is a harrowing  documentary that opens with children doing what children do around the world: playing soccer. But these children are not to have the life of other children.  They do not even go to school. And by the end, these boys will be a part of a unique ritual for children in parts of the world, learning to be a part of a militia. Watching young men become militarized is one of those gut-churning documentary topics.
But there are others as well.  One thing that comes through loud and clear is that this will not be over any time soon.  The country that once was Syria has been changed, perhaps not permanently, but for the foreseeable future it has little in the way of infrastructure, and the children in this movie know nothing but was, hear nothing but extremist rhetoric, and question nothing.  There is a scene where Abu Osama is joking with a man about his niece not wearing a hijab, that his sons would think she should be shot on site, and they are both laughing about this violence against women so casually,  then the other man says that they should be lenient as she is only two years old.  It is a crushing movie to watch but important.