Also Known as Jihadi. 2017. France. Directed by Éric Baudelaire. DCP. In French; English subtitles. 102 min.
Also Known as Jihadi sketches the story of a young man, called “Aziz,” through the landscapes he has traversed: the Paris suburbs where he was born and raised, schools and workplaces, and finally Syria, where he joined the ranks of the Al-Nusra Front in 2012. Drawing on real events and a vast archive of French court documents and surveillance recordings, Éric Baudelaire entwines one individual’s path to radicalization within the systems in which his story unfolds. The director’s fourth long-form film is rich in creative references: Masao Adachi (the subject of Baudelaire’s previous essay-film), whose A.K.A. Serial Killer (1969) and theory of landscape film inspired its structure; and this first encounter with Claire Atherton, editor of Chantal Akerman’s Sud, which scrutinized human capacity for violence through geographic terrain two decades prior. A generative meeting of sensibilities—Baudelaire’s methodical research-based process, Atherton’s fluid approach to cinematic temporality—fuse into a powerful reflection on memory, history, and place. The project ignited Atherton’s most prolific working relationship in the post-Akerman years; she and Baudelaire continue to collaborate on films and installations today.