Ghosts of Sugar Land

"The complex processes of conversion to Islamic radicalism have been little addressed in cinema and television, making the short film 'Ghosts of Sugar Land' doubly valuable. After winning the jury prize for best non-fiction film at Sundance, controversy over the documentary grew when its central figure, Warren Christopher Clark, was captured in Syria by US forces. In the documentary, a portrait of the subject is built through the testimonies of his closest friends, who are always kept distant and to some extent mysterious, thanks to the masks the boys wear when they appear on screen. It is remarkable that the common denominator among the main interviewees is a kind of remorse, as they wonder what they could have done differently to change the fate of their friend."