Aching Heart

Mohammed, a friend of Lennart's who appears briefly in the film, leaves to fight with the islamist forces in Somalia and is killed in a U.S. bombing raid.

Yet the picture is not all bleak. By giving them faces and voices, Hedin said, he believes Sweden - and many other countries in Western Europe facing similar problems - can deal more effectively with the threat such militants pose.

"These are regular guys, in a sense," Hedin said. "By talking to them, by having an open debate, I hope we can stop some of what they're doing, and maybe understand some of their reasons."

Hedin chosen the title "Aching Heart" to underscore how all these "regular guys" have histories that viewers can relate to, histories that might provide some of the keys to solving the problem of Islamic radicalism in the West.