Return to Homs

Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award 2014

NEW DOCS

Homs, Syria, is a city under siege. On the frontline of the Syrian Civil War, it is at the epicenter of the defensive insurgency led by the charismatic Abdul Basset, goalkeeper of the national soccer team. Only nineteen years old, he is the voice and spirit of the revolution. Accompanied by friend, journalist, and cameraman Ossama Al Homsi, as well as a wide-eyed and admirable squad of fearless young pacifists-turned-protestors, Basset energizes and epitomizes the movement with astonishing bravery and statesmanship. Shot in an arresting battlefield vérité, the film is similarly astounding, as the madness of modern urban warfare evokes a Shakespearean Agincourt with cellphones as the dauntless Basset leads his band of brothers again and again into the harrowing breach.  TM

Director

Talal Derki

Producers

Orwa Nyrabia, Hans Robert Eisenhauer

Editor

Anna Fabini

Cinematographers

Orwa Nyrabia, Kahtan Hassoun, Ossama Al Homsi, Talal Derki

Original Title

Al Awda Ila Hims

Release Year

2013

Festival Year

2014

Country

Syria, Germany

Run Time

90 minutes

Subtitled

Yes