Return to Homs: beyond the point of no return
March 2011, a popular revolution erupted in Syria,
seeking change after 40 years of despotic rule of Al Assad family. The city of
Homs was called ‘The Capital of the Revolution’ for its youth’s great bravery,
singing and dancing in the fame of army tanks. Back then, the elderly said to
the youth: ‘You don’t know this regime, the country will drown in its blood
before Al Assad Steps down’…but the youth were already beyond the point of no
return.
Return to Homs is a documentary by Talal Derki that follows a group of young
anti-Assad activists turned fighters, as peaceful protests start in 2011 and morph into civil war. Primary characters include the charismatic Abdul al-Saroot, a soccer star
turned pacifist protestor turned armed fighter, and Osama
al-Homsi, a journalist who was abducted by the Assad regime in 2012 and is
feared dead. Derki says his film is "about
the Syrian citizen who challenged everything and everyone to demand
freedom. It’s a movie about war and the pressure of being in a
battlefield…
What started as peaceful protests in Syria soon evolved into siege in Homs,
into the battles and violence around the country, where snipers shot citizens
and the regime shelled places killing innocent souls. That’s when [Abdul
Basset al-Saroot] started carrying weapons.”
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