Winner of a 2015 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize, “(T)ERROR” is the first documentary to place filmmakers on the ground during an active FBI counterterrorism sting operation.
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Unfolding with the drama and intrigue of a spy novel, “(T)ERROR” is the story of “Shariff,” a 63-year-old Black Panther revolutionary turned informant, whose perspective provides an unfettered glimpse of the government’s counterterrorism tactics and the sometimes murky justifications behind them. A portrait of a troubled man whose double life has extracted a heavy toll, the film raises questions about the balance between civil liberties and national security. Directed by Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe, “(T)ERROR” premieres on INDEPENDENT LENS Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 on PBS.
The film begins in an undisclosed location in the eastern United States, where Shariff works as a cook in a middle school cafeteria, but is struggling to make ends meet. When the FBI asks him to work on a terrorism investigation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Shariff reluctantly leaves his young son behind for what he hopes will be his last case, and a chance to make several hundred thousand dollars.
Upon arrival in Pittsburgh, Shariff informs the filmmakers that the FBI has ordered him to befriend a white Muslim convert named Khalifah Al-Akili, and assess his interest in attending a terrorist training camp abroad. As his investigation of Khalifah unfolds, a parallel examination of Shariff begins as well. Uncovering a complex web of greed, betrayal and regret, “(T)ERROR” reveals the origins and evolution of Shariff’s complicated past.
As times goes by, Shariff finds himself under increasing pressure from the FBI to produce results in the Al-Akili case. Midway through the film, a dramatic discovery upends the investigation and raises serious questions about the ethics and effectiveness of the FBI’s tactics. Taut, stark, and controversial, “(T)ERROR” illuminates the fragile relationships between individuals and the surveillance state in modern America, and asks: Who is watching the watchers?
Filmmaker Lyric Cabral has an extremely personal connection to “(T)ERROR” She has known the main character for over a decade and is one of the few people to maintain contact with him over the span of several counterterrorism assignments. When she met co-director David Felix Sutcliffe, who had made a previous film about an FBI arrest of one of his former students, she disclosed her friendship with Shariff. The filmmakers decided to approach him with the idea of documenting his activities. “(T)ERROR” was set in motion when Shariff invited Cabral and Sutcliffe to his home to discuss the idea.
“(T)ERROR” is a co-production of Stories Seldom Seen LLC, Charlotte Street Films, and Independent Television Service (ITVS), with funding provided by Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
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