My Trip to Al-Qaeda

An official selection of 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, My Trip To Al-Qaeda offers a crash course in modern Islamic fundamentalism. Wright's footage and interviews range from the radicalization of future al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri after he and other Egyptians were imprisoned for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian president Anwar El Sadat, to the rise of Osama Bin Laden (son of a wealthy Saudi contractor) after he fought the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 1980s, to America's current dilemma as a superpower in danger of overextending its military presence in a region filled with militants who prefer death over life. My Trip To Al-Qaeda blends portions of Wright's play with backstage chats, archived television clips and footage of Wright's interviews of people with ties to al-Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist movement. (official distributor synopsis)