The Way Home

Wael Kadlo  |  Documentary Film  |  2018  |  Syria
An encounter between mother and son turns into a conflict, when Wael refers to his grandmother as his mother. After all, he even got to meet his own father only at the age of five which has created a void in his life, despite of all the love and attention. Years later, as he grows closer to his biological mother, the carefully constructed family relations break up and bring old wounds and feelings of guilt to the surface. The impressive and intimate insight into this Damascene family is rendered possible by the director’s and son’s sensitivity who opens up to the other’s stories in order to grapple with his own. The dominance of the familial narrative echoes with the narrowness of the political one, against which Wael’s generation ultimately rebels.