Like a visual elegy, My Memory Is Full of Ghosts explores a reality caught between past, present and future in Homs, Syria. Behind the self-portrait of an exsanguinated population in search of normality, emerge memories of the city, haunted by destruction, disfigurement and loss. A deeply moving film, a painful echo of the absurdity of war and the strength of human beings.

Dir. Anas Zawahri | 74min | 2024 | Syria

"unfolds in long, measured, fixed camera shots that allow time to take in backdrops that are mostly scarred by the evidence of war....we hear locals...try to reconcile their love of the city and happy memories there with experiences of trauma and their hopes for the future" - Screendaily

"Punctuated by songs of lamentation, the film is elegiac in tone, a visual hymn for what Homs once was. While bearing witness to the pain left behind, Zawahri also makes space for the resilience of the living, with a special focus on children and adolescents. The war’s impact on their lives is enormous – many are working as adults instead of going to school, though we see them engage in spirited play, even when surrounded by ruins. With peace more fragile than ever, their innocence and joy strike a bittersweet chord" - Guardian

"looks at Homs through the kind of silence that follows catastrophe, when the world has moved its attention elsewhere and the people left behind must keep living inside the damage" - Gazettely

Special Mention, International Competition, Visions du Reel