In exile in Granada, Syrian artist Assem Al-Bacha is working on a giant sculpture of the 11th-century poet Al-Maari, intended to raise awareness of his country and its culture. The plan was for the huge bronze head to travel the world, with a liberated Syria as its final destination. Years later, however, that tour is still a work in progress. Meanwhile, the independent-minded Assem has continued to refine the sculpture, and the poet’s face has come to look more and more like his own.
Over a period of ten years, the filmmaker visits Assem in his studio and sunlit home. Like old friends, they talk with each other and occasionally with Assem’s French wife Nicole, who watches the whole process with amusement. They reflect on the power of art and on life in exile. Through slides and photographs, Assem looks back on better times in Syria and shows some of the hundreds of artworks of his that were destroyed under the Assad regime. Will the head of Al-Maari ever make its way home?
Stills
