Mustafa (Akhtem Seitablayev) and his college-aged son, Alim (Remzi Bilyalov) have set out to a morgue in Kyiv to recover the body of Alim’s older brother, Nazim, yet another casualty of the war with Russia. Although Nazim had been living in Kyiv with his Orthodox wife, Olesya, Mustafa is insistent that his son is given a traditional Muslim burial beside his mother’s grave in Crimea, and excludes Olesya from the road-trip.
Mustafa is a hot-tempered and severe. There is also tension between father and son as city-life has exacerbated the generational gap between Mustafa and Alim. However, one commonality unites them – their shared language of Crimean Tatar. Along the way, they face many obstacles, not least of which is a decomposing cadaver, and Alim is hard-pressed to accept his father's determination to uphold tradition at all costs. However, the on-going challenges encourage the pair to better understand each other and profoundly impacts their relationship.
World Premiere Cannes Film Festival 2019 – Un Certain Regard
Length: 98 minutes
Country: Ukraine
Languages: Crimean Tatar/Ukrainian/Russian with English subtitles
★★★★
“Ukrainian filmmaker Nariman Aliev has fashioned an emotionally intense and impressively shot debut feature which, despite the specificity of its cultural references, boldly moves into a more mythical dimension for its resolution.”
Tom Dawson, TOTAL FILM
“The striking visuals as well as the authenticity of the storytelling make Homeward a compelling, heartbreaking watch.
Seitablaev delivers a particularly moving performance, navigating between brutal patriarchal machismo and devastating torment.
…personal and collective pains weave together to make a quietly searing work."
Phuong Le, THE GUARDIAN
★★★★
"A mightily impressive first film, and that ability to flex creative muscles will come later on. An impressive all-rounder package with a couple of very moving set-pieces……an extremely poignant final act.
This brooding Ukrainian road movie shows major promise for its first-time director, Nariman Aliev...definitely one to keep an eye on."
David Jenkins, LITTLE WHITE LIES
“An eloquent and deeply felt movie that, dispensing entirely with any music score, conveys a complex of emotions all the more potent for being so starkly and unaffectedly presented.”
Philip Kemp, SIGHT & SOUND
★★★★
“Elegant framing makes striking use of a generous widescreen aspect ratio, but the film’s main asset is a deft screenplay that subtly reverses the roles of father and son as the journey progresses..…this arresting feature debut by Nariman Aliev…
"A moving modern-day Crimean war story...
"Striking Ukrainian road-trip drama across a war-torn land."
Wendy Ide, THE OBSERVER
“An important project…recent political history is vibrant and painfully alive in this Ukrainian road movie about a mismatched father and son trying to transport a dead body from Kiev to Crimea."
Kevin Mahler, THE TIMES
"There is so much going on…I think it is incredible...the performances are just astonishing. This film is a first feature. I think it is unbelievable that this film was directed by someone who is not even thirty. It’s very beautiful to watch it really powers through. Really poignant film about basically two people who can not find a common language and clash."
Anna Bogutskaya, BBC RADIO 5 LIVE, Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review
“Judged in artistic terms, Nariman Aliev's film is strengthened by plenty of passion and a good visual sense.”
Edward Porter, THE SUNDAY TIMES
"Nariman Aliev’s first feature reveals a poise and maturity beyond his years. The 26-year-old director consolidates the themes and approach of his shorts Sensiz (2016) and à Seni Sevem (2014) into a thoughtful road movie illuminating the fraught fault lines in the relationship between the Ukraine and Russia. The attention given to the look of the film and the poised, reflective tone bring to mind the cinema of Nuri Bilge Ceylan and further emphasises that Narim Aliev is a talent to watch."
Allan Hunter, SCREEN DAILY
"Masterfully shot, this film is simultaneously telling and dialogue-sparse, as the characters switch between four different languages and the even most insignificant objects have a profound narrative purpose."
Maria Muzdybaeva, THE CALVERT JOURNAL
"The feature debut of young Ukrainian director Nariman Aliev... is confidently crafted and well acted. Plainly operating on a small budget, Aliev does good work with limited resources in Homeward. Aliev clearly has plenty to say on this rich subject."
Stephen Dalton, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
'The feature debut from Ukrainian filmmaker Nariman Aliev, shaped like a funeral procession, is an allegory of the fate of the Tatar people, reduced to a state of vagrancy.
From this allegorical work, filmed in a sober and classical manner, a sad and lacklustre beauty emerges, echoing the situation of this people that is so rarely talked about. Through Mustafa’s painful task, Aliev lets us hear their heartbreaking lament.'
Benedicte Prot, CINEUROPA
