AllMovie

The history, rationales, and long-term effects of suicide missions are explored in this documentary by Tel Aviv-native and New York-based filmmaker Ilan Ziv. Ziv suggests that the widespread, self-inflicted terrorist acts that came to the fore in the early 21st century found their roots in two significant places: the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s and Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers. But Ziv is quick to draw a lineage between those movements, the Kamikaze pilots of World War II, and other war-casualty operations. Throughout, the filmmaker analyzes the far-reaching consequences of treating suicidal terrorist as an act of martyrdom, paying particular attention to the Mid-East conflict. In addition to his work as a documentarian, Ziv is also the founder of the well-reputed indie production company Icarus Films.