{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = (T)error | image = (T)ERROR poster.png | alt = | caption = | director = Lyric R. Cabral<br />David Felix Sutcliffe | producer = Christopher St. John | writer = <!-- or: |writers = --> | screenplay = | story = | based_on = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} --> | starring = Khalifah Al-Akili and Saeed Torres | narrator = <!-- or: |narrators = --> | music = Robert Miller | cinematography = | editing = | studio = <!-- or: |production_companies = --> | distributor = <!-- or: |distributors = --> | released = {{film date|2015|10|7}} | runtime = 84 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = <!--(please use condensed and rounded values, e.g. "£11.6 million" not "£11,586,221")--> }} '''''(T)error''''' – stylized as '''''(T)ERROR''''' – is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe. The film follows undercover FBI informant Saeed "Shariff" Torres as he engages in a sting operation targeting a Muslim man named Khalifah Ali Al-Akili as well as Tarik Shah.<ref>{{cite news|title=Extended interview with Khalifah al-Akili from Federal Prison; Says FBI Tried to Entrap Him (WEB EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2015/4/20/listen_extended_interview_with_khalifa_al|accessdate=22 December 2015|work=Democracy Now|date=20 April 2015}}</ref> The film won the Special Jury Award for Breakout First Feature at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered.<ref name=Sundance>{{cite news|last1=Chang |first1=Justin |title=Here are the 2015 Sundance Film Fest winners |url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/movies/here-are-2015-sundance-film-fest-winners |accessdate=22 December 2015 |date=31 January 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205083904/http://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/movies/here-are-2015-sundance-film-fest-winners |archivedate=5 February 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=france24>{{cite news|last1=Pilgrim|first1=Sophie|title=US filmmakers unveil FBI tactics to snare Muslims|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20150424-usa-film-unveil-fbi-tactics-snare-muslims-informant-terror/|accessdate=26 April 2015|work=France 24|date=25 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425155726/http://www.france24.com/en/20150424-usa-film-unveil-fbi-tactics-snare-muslims-informant-terror/|archive-date=2015-04-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>
It is the first documentary to follow an active FBI case while in progress.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Perez|first1=Rodrigo|title=Hot Docs Review: FBI Informant Tale ''(T)error'' Is One Of The Most Riveting Documentaries Of The Year|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/hot-docs-review-fbi-informant-tale-t-error-is-one-of-the-most-riveting-documentaries-of-the-year-20150430|accessdate=22 December 2015|work=The Playlist|agency=Indiewire|date=30 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218230453/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/hot-docs-review-fbi-informant-tale-t-error-is-one-of-the-most-riveting-documentaries-of-the-year-20150430|archive-date=2015-12-18|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is the first film for Cabral and the second for Sutcliffe.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Moylan|first1=Brian|title=Sundance 2015 review: ''(T)ERROR'' – is entrapment always this boring?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/28/sundance-2015-review-terror-is-entrapment-always-this-boring|accessdate=22 December 2015|work=The Guardian|date=28 January 2015}}</ref> Sutcliffe said the film's intention was to show informants and their targets, and focus on the "decisions, tactics and objectives of counterterrorism cases."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Moynihan|first1=Colin|title='(T)error' Focuses on Informant and Piques F.B.I.'s Interest|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/03/movies/-t-error-focuses-on-informant-and-piques-fbis-interest.html|accessdate=22 December 2015|work=The New York Times|date=2 September 2015}}</ref>
The film aired on US television on the PBS series ''Independent Lens''. The film was re-titled '''''FBI Undercover''''' when broadcast in the UK by the BBC as part of their ''Storyville'' TV series.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Newall|first1=Sally|title=Storyville: FBI Undercover, BBC4 - TV review: There is no perfect solution in these difficult times|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/storyville-fbi-undercover-bbc4-tv-review-there-is-no-perfect-solution-in-these-difficult-times-a6755016.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/storyville-fbi-undercover-bbc4-tv-review-there-is-no-perfect-solution-in-these-difficult-times-a6755016.html |archive-date=2022-05-01 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|accessdate=22 December 2015|work=The Independent|date=30 November 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
The story was also retold on ''This American Life''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ThisAmericanLife.org/radio-archives/episode/566/transcript|title=This American Life Episode 566: Act Two ("The Lyin' Kings") transcript|work=This American Life|date=11 September 2015 |accessdate=February 22, 2016}}</ref>
==Background== Co-director Cabral was a student living in Harlem when her downstairs neighbor of four years, Saeed Torres, disappeared in May 2005. Cabral's investigation into his disappearance eventually became the subject of her film.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bramowitz|first1=Julie|title=Sundance Doc (T)ERROR Blows the Lid Off FBI Informants|url=http://www.vogue.com/9569595/terror-fbi-informants-documentary-sundance/|website=Vogue|accessdate=4 February 2015}}</ref> Shortly before Torres' disappearance, Sutcliffe and Cabral met at an afterschool arts program, where one of their students, Adama Bah, a 16-year-old Muslim teenage girl was arrested by the FBI and accused of being a "potential" suicide bomber.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Elation in Harlem as Girl Held in Terror Inquiry Is Released|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/07/nyregion/elation-in-harlem-as-girl-held-in-terror-inquiry-is-released.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 2005-05-07|access-date = 2015-11-04|issn = 0362-4331|first = Nina|last = Bernstein}}</ref> Her arrest triggered a growing interest for both Cabral and Sutcliffe in the FBI's counterterrorism tactics, and an increasing awareness of the central role of informants in the majority of domestic terror plots.
==Reception==
===Critical reception=== The film was received positively by critics. It received a 91% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 33 reviews.<ref name=RottenTomatoes>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/terror_2015/ |title=(T)ERROR |work=Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=22 February 2016}}</ref> It also received a score of 73 (generally favorable) on Metacritic, based on 12 reviews.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/terror |title= (T)error |work=Metacritic |accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref> The consensus according to Rotten Tomatoes being "''(T)ERROR'' should dishearten and disturb viewers concerned with the erosion of American civil rights – and it doesn't even hit its targets as hard as it could.".<ref name=RottenTomatoes />
Writing for RogerEbert.com, film critic Brian Tallerico, who gave the documentary three and a half stars out of four, says that the film is a "fascinating piece of work that approaches ''CITIZENFOUR'' in its deconstruction of governmental failure and the systems underneath the war on terror that are not only failing to keep us safe but impacting the entire world political scene."<ref>{{cite news|title=''(T)ERROR''|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/terror-2015|accessdate=22 December 2015|work=RogerEbert.com|date=7 October 2015}}</ref>
===Awards and nominations=== ;Won *The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences – Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Documentary (2017)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cdn.emmyonline.org/news_38th_winners_v02.pdf|title=THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS AND SCIENCES ANNOUNCES WINNERS AT THE 38th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY AWARDS|website=Cdn.emmyonline.org|access-date=15 March 2022|archive-date=8 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108054033/http://cdn.emmyonline.org/news_38th_winners_v02.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Sundance – Special Jury Prize for Breakout First Feature (2015)<ref name=Sundance /> *Full Frame Documentary Film Festival – Grand Jury Prize (2015) *International Documentary Association – Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe won Emerging Filmmaker Award (2015)
;Nominated *Independent Spirit Awards – Best Documentary (2015) *Cinema Eye Honors – Spotlight Award (2015)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|https://terrordocumentary.org/}} *{{IMDb title|4370922}} *{{Rotten Tomatoes|terror_2015}} *[https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/terror/ ''(T)error''] on ''Independent Lens''
{{DEFAULTSORT:TERROR}} Category:2015 documentary films Category:2015 films Category:American documentary films Category:Documentary films about law enforcement in the United States Category:Documentary films about terrorism Category:Sundance Film Festival award–winning films Category:Films set in Pittsburgh Category:2015 English-language films Category:2015 American films Category:English-language documentary films