Film screening: Return to Homs - December 5, 2014

How differently people might remember the Alamo had there been a camera crew there to observe it. 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 Basset Saroot, a charismatic nonviolent protestor pushed into taking up arms against the oppressive regime. What the film lacks in context it gains in visceral eyewitness value, its countless tragedies serving as a potential rallying cry to supporters wherever this Sundance World Cinema docu winner unspools abroad.

– excerpt from a review by Peter Debruge, Chief International Film Critic, Variety

Official site and trailer: Return to Homs

A post-screening discussion will be moderated by Vincent Romani, Professor of political science, UQAM. Director Talal Derki will take part in the discussion via Skype.
Presented by the Islamic Studies Library.