Warriors from the North

Documentary filmmakers Nasib Farah and Søren Steen Jespersen present a disturbing look at young Somali men living in Scandinavia who return to their homeland to join the Al-Shabab terrorist group. Perhaps the most infamous of these Islamic extremists was Abdi Rahman from Denmark, who posed as a journalist during a medical school graduation ceremony in the Somali capital of Mogadishu and blew himself up, killing several of the newly-minted physicians that were ready to tackle their nation's dire health crises. The filmmakers interview someone known only as “The Shadow,” who details (from the safety of an obscured face and disguised voice) the circumstances that drive the disenfranchised young Somali men in the Scandinavian nations to reject their racial and religious minority status in Europe and embrace the radical propaganda and violent goals of Al-Shabab. Also featured here is the beleaguered father of an Al-Shabab recruit who works as a janitor in Copenhagen's Tivoli amusement center and spends his free time trying to track down his son's whereabouts (the discovery of the young man's Facebook page confirms his role in the Somali conflict). A jolting documentary on the making of modern-day terrorists, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)