The Return to Homs
{{Infobox film
| name = The Return to Homs
| image = The Return to Homs poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Promotional poster
| director = Talal Derki
| producer = Orwa Nyrabia
Hans Robert Eisenhauer
Diana El Jeiroudi
| writer = Talal Derki
| starring =
| music =
| cinematography = Talal Derki
Ossama al Homsi
Kahtan Hassoun
Orwa Nyrabia
| editing = Anne Fabini
| studio = Proaction Film
Ventana Films
| distributor = Journeyman Pictures
| released = {{Film date|2013|12|20|IDFA|2014|01|20|Sundance Film Festival}}
| runtime = 80 minutes
| country = Syria
Germany
| language = Arabic
}}
The Return to Homs ({{Langx|ar|العودة إلى حمص}}; {{Langx|de|Homs - Ein zerstörter Traum|lit=Homs: A Shattered Dream}}) is a 2013 Syrian-German documentary film written and directed by Talal Derki.{{cite web |title=Return to Homs: Sundance 2014 – first look review|website=TheGuardian.com |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/23/return-to-homs-sundance-xan-brooks|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}{{cite web |title=Amid the Debris of Homs, a Guerrilla Is Born| website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/world/middleeast/amid-the-debris-of-homs-a-guerrilla-is-born.html?_r=0|accessdate=April 14, 2014}} It is produced by Orwa Nyrabia and Hans Robert Eisenhauer while Diana El Jeiroudi served as the associate producer.{{cite web |title=Crew of 'Return to Homs'|url=http://www.returntohoms.com/#!crew/c1c77|accessdate=June 27, 2014}} The film premiered in-competition at the 2013 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam on November 20, 2013, as the opening film of the festival.{{cite web|title=15 October: IDFA opens with Syrian documentary Return to Homs|url=http://www.idfa.nl/industry/press/15-october-idfa-opens-with-syrian-documentary-return-to-homs.aspx|accessdate=April 14, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401013506/http://www.idfa.nl/industry/press/15-october-idfa-opens-with-syrian-documentary-return-to-homs.aspx|archivedate=April 1, 2014}}{{cite web |title=Hivos partner wins at Sundance Film Festival with 'Return to Homs'|url=http://www.hivos.org/news/hivos-partner-wins-sundance-film-festival-return-homs|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}
The film also premiered in-competition in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2014.{{cite web |title=Sundance 2014: World Cinema Documentary Competition|url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/sundance-2014-world-cinema-documentary-competition|accessdate=January 18, 2014}} It won the Grand Jury Prize award at the festival.{{cite web |title=Sundance: 'Whiplash' & 'Rich Hill' Win Grand Jury Awards; Dramatic Directing Goes To Cutter Hodierne For 'Fishing Without Nets'|url=https://deadline.com/2014/01/sundance-film-festival-winners-2014-awards-list-671058/|access-date=January 26, 2014}}{{cite web |title='Whiplash' Owns the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Awards Netting Two Top Prizes|url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/the-2014-sundance-film-festival-winners-as-they-come-in|accessdate=January 26, 2014}}
After its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Journeyman Pictures acquired the worldwide distribution rights of the film. The film's TV rights has been previously sold to ARTE for France and Germany, NHK for Japan, RTS for Switzerland, SVT for Sweden, and Radio Canada.{{cite web |title=Exclusive: Journeyman Pictures picks up "Return to Homs"|url=http://realscreen.com/2014/02/12/exclusive-journeyman-pictures-picks-up-return-to-homs/|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}{{cite web |title=Journeyman takes Return to Homs|url=http://www.screendaily.com/news/journeyman-takes-return-to-homs/5066703.article|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}
It also served as the closing film at 2014 Human Rights Film Festival on March 28, 2014.{{cite web|title=HRWFF 2014: Return To Homs UK Premiere & Closing Film |url=http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/film/Hrwff_2014_Return_To_Homs_Uk_Premiere_Closing_Film/|accessdate=12 April 2014}}{{cite web|title=Return to Homs |url=https://ff.hrw.org/film/return-homs?city=4|accessdate=12 April 2014}}
Synopsis
In the middle of Syrian Civil War, the film follows, 19-year-old national football team goalkeeper, Abdul Baset al-Sarout and 24-year-old Ossama, his media activist and journalist friend, their daily life in the city of Homs which has become a bombed-out ghost town by government forces. Their homes, lives and dreams destroyed and in order to gain freedom, they are forced to change course Baset and Ossama turned from peaceful protesters into rebel insurgents.
Reception
File:"Return to Homs" Wins the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize (12186262323).jpg.]]
The Return to Homs received mostly positive reviews upon its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Peter Debruge of Variety, said in his review that "Talal Derki’s “Return to Homs” represents a remarkable achievement in immersive conflict-zone filmmaking, fearlessly taking auds to the front lines of the Syrian civil war and embedding them alongside soccer star turned resistance leader Abdul Baset al-Sarout, a charismatic nonviolent protester pushed into taking up arms against the oppressive regime."{{cite web |title=Film Review: 'Return to Homs'|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-return-to-homs-1201145896/|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}
Neil Young in his review for The Hollywood Reporter called the film "An unflinching, rousing piece of civil-war reportage, literally dispatched from the conflict's front lines."{{cite web |title=Return To Homs: IDFA Review|website=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/return-homs-idfa-review-661955|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}
Eric Kohn from Indiewire praised the film by saying that ""Return to Homs" reveals a far more frenzied, visceral struggle that a handful of driven warriors continue to endure at all costs. With its climactic freeze frame, Derki captures the men's uneasy combination of desperation and triumph in a single image: With nowhere left to go, they still push ahead."{{cite web |title=Review: Groundbreaking Perspective of Syrian Civil War Reveals Dire Situation In IDFA Opener 'Return to Homs'|url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/review-groundbreaking-perspective-of-syrian-civil-war-reveals-dire-situation-in-idfa-opener-return-to-homs|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}
While, Dan Fienberg of HitFix grade the film B+ and said that "There are shades of Kubrick to the long, uninterrupted shots that take us through bombed out buildings, a labyrinth of ruins that still have poignant ties to our heroes."{{cite web |title=Sundance review roundup from The Fien Print|website=HitFix |url=http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/sundance-review-roundup-from-the-fien-print/single-page|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}
Accolades
{{Anchor|Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:1em auto;" |
| Year
! Award ! Category ! Recipient ! Result |
|---|
| 2013
| International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam | Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary |
| rowspan=5|2014
| World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary | Talal Derki |
| rowspan=2| San Francisco International Film Festival
| Golden Gate Award - Best Documentary Feature | Talal Derki | {{nom}} |
| Golden Gate Award - Special Jury Recognition
| Talal Derki |
| rowspan=2| Kraków Film Festival
| Cracow Students Jury Award - Documentary Competition | Talal Derki |
| Silver Horn - Best Feature-Length Documentary
| Talal Derki |
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://www.returntohoms.com Official Site]
- {{IMDb title|3199456|The Return to Homs}}
- {{rotten-tomatoes|the_return_to_homs|The Return to Homs}}
- [https://www.journeyman.tv/film/6035/return-to-homs Return to Homs] on Journeyman Pictures
{{S-start}}
{{s-ach|aw}}
{{Succession box
| title=Sundance Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary
| years=2014
| before=A River Changes Course
| after=The Russian Woodpecker}}
{{end}}
{{Syrian Civil War}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Return To Homs, The}}
Category:Sundance Film Festival award–winning films
Category:2013 documentary films
Category:German documentary films
Category:Syrian documentary films
Category:Documentary films about human rights
Category:Documentary films about the Syrian civil war