New documentary follows Minneapolis father whose son attempted to join ISIS

“Accept the Call,” a new documentary about a Minneapolis father whose son attempted to join Isis, will air at 9 p.m. Monday on TPT.

New York-based Singaporean filmmaker Eunice Lau tells the story of Yusuf Abdurahman, who left Somalia as a refugee 25 years ago to start a new life in Minneapolis. But his worst fear was realized when his 19-year-old-son Zacharia was arrested in an FBI counterterrorism sting after he attempted to join the Islamic State in Syria.

Lau told Variety she made the film because she wanted to answer “the burning question I had of why we are seeing the phenomenon of thousands of young Muslim youths around the world pledging allegiance to a terrorist organization such as Isis? In the context of the United States, I suspected it had to do with the bigotry they endured growing up in the post-9/11 political climate that often singled out Muslim Americans as ‘terrorists’ and I wanted to investigate that hypothesis when the story of the FBI sting operation in Minnesota broke.”

“Accept the Call” played several festivals last year and received a special mention for best documentary at the Woodstock Film Festival.