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Mohammad Ali Atassi, Ziad
Homsi
Syria
2014 | 1:25:00
This road movie portrays the perilous journey of well-known
intellectual Yassin al-Haj Saleh and young photographer Ziad Homsi
through Syria, at a time when the country edges towards the brink.
Yassin (53), who spent 16 years in prison for belonging to the Syrian
left, goes underground in 2011 to serve Syria’s popular uprising,
while Ziad (24) - occasionally fighting with the rebels - takes
photographs in his hometown Douma. In this Damascene suburb – where
Yassin and his wife Samira Khalil found shelter - the two men meet and
become friends.
Together, they embark on an adventurous journey through the desert to
al-Haj Saleh’s native town Raqqa in Northeast Syria. Upon their
arrival, Raqqa is occupied by the "Islamic State in Iraq and Levant"
(ISIS), which also kidnapped two brothers of Yassin.
Consequently, the thinker leaves for Istanbul to pursue his writing
for the revolution, hoping for a reunion with his wife Samira who
remained in Douma. Ziad – abducted by ISIS on his way back – rejoins
Yassin after his release, hoping to return home soon. All hopes are
shattered when Samira gets abducted jointly with human rights lawyer
Razan Zeitouneh.
And the film ends while Syria tumbles into a yawning abyss.
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