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.”