Return to Homs
Synopsis
Filmed between August 2011 and August 2013, this is a remarkably intimate portrait of a group of young revolutionaries in the city of Homs in western Syria. They dream of their country being free from President Bashar al-Assad and fight for justice through peaceful demonstrations. As the army acts ever more brutally and their city is transformed into a ghost town, the young men become armed insurgents. The protagonists are two friends: Basset, the charismatic 19-year-old goalkeeper of the national soccer team whose revolutionary songs make him the voice of the protest movement, and the 24-year-old media activist and cameraman Ossama. The close-up camerawork takes the viewer right into the group. Scenes of lively protest parties make way for panicking civilians on the run, followed by grim battles in a deserted city, and rising numbers of fallen loved ones. Basset's a cappella protest songs are the only soundtrack, apart from the "silence, interrupted only by birds and bullets." From time to time, the director makes a comment in voice-over: "The world is watching how we are getting killed one by one, while it remains silent as the grave."Festivals/Awards
2014Sundance Grand Jury Award for World Documentary, IDFA Opening Night Film, George Polk Award for Documentary, Golden Horn at the Krakow Film Festival… among many others.
2022
35 IDFA – Top 10
Cast and Crew
- Director Talal Derki
- Producer Hans-Robert Eisenhauer, Orwa Nyrabia
- Director of Photography Orwa Nyrabia, Kahtan Hassoun, Ossama Al Homsi, Talal Derki
- Editor Anne Fabini
- Cutter assistant Martin Reimers
Original Languages
Arabic
Production Company
VENTANA FILM GMBHMeinekestr. 24, 10719 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 25432468
hre@ventana-film.comhttp://www.ventana-film.de
Co-Production Company
NO NATION FILMS GmbHGermany
no-nation.de
Links / Reference
Journeyman Pictures
www.journeyman.tv
www.ventana-film.de
www.proactionfilm.com
youtu.be/oYMhVE2iJCk
youtu.be/RhBPewcWZ1I
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