BACK

A chase, footsteps closing in; as you approach your house, it moves further away. This is a recurring nightmare, shared by many Syrians who have fled their homeland. At night they find themselves back in their hometowns, running, chased by invisible men. They’re looking for a safe place they can never reach. BACK dives into this nightmare to examine where it stems from. Did the trauma start at the protests against Bashar al-Assad, like it did for director Yazan Rabee? Or do we have to go back further to the terror during the reign of Bashar’s father, Hafez al-Assad?

Director & Screenwriter Yazan Rabee
Cinematographer Maarten Kramer
Executive producer Laura Verduijn (Prospektor)
Creative producer Eefje Blankevoort (Prospektor)
Coproducer Philippe Avendano Vera (Artillerie) & De ontmoeting: Sacha Gertsik
Production Company(ies) Prospektor, Artillerie & De Ontmoeting

Minutes

2022

Release

Production

Netherlands

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Bio – Filmography

Yazan Rabee (1994) was born in Syria and fled to the Netherlands in 2016, with the singular goal to become a filmmaker. He had no plan B. Six years later he graduated from film school and went on to release two short films nearly simultaneously: fiction short Beyond the Sun, about the brainwashing program of the Syrian regime, and BACK, an introspective documentary about a recurring nightmare shared by many Syrians who have fled their homeland. In his work, which spans the range from fiction to documentary and often intertwines the two, he chooses to focus on mentally and socially damaged persons, often drawing from his own memories and dreams.

BACK (2022) – Short documentary about a recurring nightmare shared by many Syrians who have fled their homeland. – Official selection Netherlands Film Festival 2022, Official selection Berlinale Shorts Competition 2023

Beyond the Sun (2022) – Short fiction film about the torture and brainwashing programme of the Syrian regime. – Official selection Netherlands Film Festival 2022