دستور نيوز
Between images of old exiles and features of those returning to Damascus, the documentary film “The First Return” wove the story of the Syrian Circassians, recalling the memory of a people who carried displacement with them across generations, without losing their language, customs, or deep sense of belonging.
During the “Features of Circassian Memory” event, which was held by the Ministry of Culture at the National Library in Damascus and attended by Enab Baladi, on Sunday evening, May 24, the film screening turned into a space to evoke stories of displacement and return, and to open a broad discussion about the Circassian identity and its experience within the Syrian story.
The documentary, directed by the journalist Amjad Al-Sari, It was prepared by the journalist Sarah AbdiIt was not just a film about Circassians, but rather it seemed like a personal letter written in the memory of an entire people who experienced displacement again and again, until migration became part of their family history, except for the first time they returned to a land from which they were displaced.
Different times monitor the displacement stations
Over the course of 30 minutes, the film moved between different times, from the massacres and displacement of Circassians from the Caucasus in the nineteenth century, to the modern stages of displacement that the Circassians of Syria experienced during the war, all the way to the moment of return after liberation, when tears mixed with astonishment in the streets of old Damascus.
Among the stories included in the film, the testimony of Moamen Haj Biram stood out, who summarized the tragedy of entire generations with one sentence: “Every generation in our family has its own immigration.” From the displacement of our ancestors due to the Russian war, to leaving the Golan, and then being displaced again during the Syrian revolution, the story seemed like an endless series of uprooting and the search for a safe homeland.
Issam Abdi, a Circassian from the Golan, talked about the harsh journey that led him to leave Syria for Turkey with his family at the beginning of the revolution.
In the film, he describes how he started from scratch in a new country, trying to learn the language and adapt to a different reality, before he found in the Circassian community a space that alleviated his feeling of alienation.
He told Enab Baladi that his participation in the film “The First Return” came to document the displacement journey his family experienced through successive generations, explaining that the path of displacement began with the displacement of his grandparents from the Caucasus to Turkey, then their move to Syria, before his father was displaced from the occupied Golan to the Syrian interior, so that he later lived the experience of asylum again from Damascus to Türkiye during the years of the Syrian revolution.
He added that the film narrates this journey as part of the collective memory of the Circassians and displaced Syrians in general, noting that the work was shown coinciding with the anniversary of the displacement of the Circassians, in an attempt to shed light on the suffering of this Syrian component and the marginalization it has experienced during the past decades.
Circassians in Syria were previously deprived of celebrating their events and expressing their identity freely, at a time when similar events were being held in Turkey and Russia, Abdi said, considering that the post-liberation phase gave them the opportunity to emerge again as an active Syrian component and partner in rebuilding the country.
Speaking about the nature of the relationship between Circassians and the rest of the Syrians, he stressed that there were no difficulties in integration, explaining that the problem lay in the weak knowledge of some governorates about the Circassian community as a result of their concentration in specific areas such as Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, and the Golan, which makes such actions an opportunity to familiarize the Syrians more with their history and culture.
The film shed light on the collective memory associated with the massacres and displacement of Circassians in the nineteenth century, specifically in 1864, when thousands were forced to leave the Caucasus towards Turkey, the Levant, and Libya. These are events that are still present in the Circassian conscience to this day, and the Circassians commemorate them annually on May 21 as a day of sadness and memory.
Habits that were not destroyed by departure
The film did not delve into the tragedy alone, but rather opened a wide window on the details of Circassian life, including their inherited customs that have escaped oblivion, from their traditional dishes and hospitality customs, to ancient wedding rituals, including the custom of “kidnapping the bride,” which was carried out in the past on horseback, before it turned with time into a symbolic ritual practiced in modern cars.
The documentary also reviewed the exceptional position of women in Circassian culture, where they are seen as a symbol of peace, to the point that their intervention between disputants was sufficient to stop any conflict immediately out of respect for them.
One of the most influential moments was the speech of the Syrian Circassian activist Celine Qasim About her return to Syria after years of absence, describing her feelings as she walked for the first time in the neighborhoods of Damascus that she knew only through pictures and the Internet, stressing that the return was not just a geographical journey, but rather the restoration of a lost part of the soul.
She explained to Enab Baladi that the history of the Circassians is based on a long series of displacement, starting from the Caucasus towards the Ottoman Empire, then settling in Syria and the Golan, before the tragedy was repeated again with the Syrian war, pointing out that the stories of displacement were always present in the memories of Circassian families and were constantly passed down through the generations.
Qasim, who lived for years in the United States and Canada, added that the geographical distance did not sever her connection with the Syrian and Circassian cultures, stressing that the film tried to convey the voice of the Circassians who lived outside the country, and express their feelings about returning and reviving collective memory after years of absence.
She also stressed the importance of commemorating the “Day of Circassian Sorrow” after liberation, as an occasion to commemorate the genocide and displacement to which the Circassians were subjected in the nineteenth century at the hands of Russian forces, which resulted in the killing and displacement of large numbers of the Circassian people.
She explained that the current stage provides for the first time a real opportunity to work on documenting the stories of the Syrian Circassian martyrs during the Syrian revolution, considering that preserving this memory is necessary to prevent the recurrence of tragedies and to consolidate the presence of the Circassians within the Syrian national narrative.
Regarding the timing of the film’s showing, Qassem believed that the work carries a special symbolism in the post-liberation phase, as the Syrian components began to get to know each other more widely, stressing that the past years have witnessed attempts to isolate Syrians from each other and deepen the divisions between them, while such works constitute a space for rapprochement and understanding of the common experiences that the Syrians have lived.
Visual memory formation
The film did not limit itself to telling stories, but also tried to reshape memory visually, as the work team revealed that the project began as a modest university initiative in 2023 in Turkey, before it later developed despite the weak capabilities and difficulty of accessing the archive, which prompted them to use artificial intelligence techniques to revive some historical scenes visually.
During the discussion session that followed the presentation, there was a wide discussion about the meaning of Circassian identity, and how the Syrian revolution pushed Syrians to get to know each other more deeply, especially in exile, where many discovered Syrian cultures that had not received sufficient attention before.
Syrian Circassian journalist Sarah Abdi explained to Enab Baladi that The film “The First Return” deals with Circassian customs and traditions, in addition to the history of displacement that accompanied Circassian society through various stages, explaining that the name of the film came as an expression of the first return experienced by Circassians to a place from which they had previously been forcibly displaced.
She explained that filming began in 2023, before the fall of the regime, and its aim was initially to introduce the Circassian community and its culture. However, the developments of events, the fall of the former regime, and the return of a number of Circassians to Syria, prompted the work team to complete filming inside the country and add a new dimension to the film documenting the moment of return itself.
She stressed the importance of documenting Circassian memory, noting that the previous absence of media documentation contributed to the loss of many details of the displacement and suffering that Circassians experienced, due to the limited media tools in those periods.
She added that preserving this memory does not only aim to remember the past, but rather to understand previous experiences and benefit from them in the face of any possible recurrence of tragedies, considering that the availability of documentation tools today places a great responsibility on the current generation to preserve the Circassian narrative and pass it on to future generations.
Highlighting the Circassian community
Director of the film “The First Return” Amjad Al-Sari explained to Enab Baladi The work sheds light on the Circassian community as an integral part of the Syrian fabric, by reviewing its customs and traditions, in addition to tracing the stages of displacement it experienced throughout history, all the way to the experience of asylum and return after the Syrian revolution.
He pointed out that the basic idea of the film was based on the concept of “return,” explaining that the Circassians went through a long series of uprooting through successive generations, starting from the Caucasus following the genocide and mass displacement they were subjected to at the hands of Russia in 1864, then moving to different regions, before the Circassians of Syria lived a new displacement experience during the Syrian war.
He added that the name “the first return” carries a deep symbolic significance, as it expresses the first time that Circassians were able to return to a land from which they were displaced, after their repeated history of forced exodus without return, considering that the return of Syrian Circassians from Turkey to Syria after liberation constituted an exceptional moment in their collective memory.
Al-Sari stressed that the film also seeks to raise the question of identity and belonging, especially among generations who were born in exile or lived through repeated experiences of displacement, noting that the Circassians’ adherence to commemorating the “Circassian Day of Sorrow” annually reflects their deep connection to their land and their historical memory, despite the passage of more than a century and a half since the first displacement.
Mixing historical narrative and documentary nature
Regarding the directorial style, Al-Sari explained that he deliberately combined historical narration and documentary nature, because talking about Circassian society requires returning to the historical background to understand the present, adding that this combination helped create a visual sequence that begins from the first moment of displacement and ends with the scene of the return to Syria.
The opening of the film was filmed in the “Kevkin” area in Istanbul, as it is the first point the Circassians reached after their displacement from the Caucasus, according to his expression, explaining that the choice of this place came to constitute the beginning of the film’s visual journey, which ends with a return to Syria, in a narrative circle that summarizes a long history of exile and the search for a homeland.
Circassian Day of Mourning or Circassian Day of Mourning: It is the anniversary day of the extermination to which the Circassians were subjected by Russian forces on May 21, 1864, their loss of their land, the killing of approximately one and a half million people of their ancestors, and the tragic forced displacement of 90% of those who survived from the land of their motherland, the North Caucasus.
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“The First Return”… The memory of the Syrian Circassians that cannot be defeated by exile
– الدستور نيوز
اخبار الفن – “The First Return”… The memory of the Syrian Circassians that cannot be defeated by exile
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