Synopsis
Coming Home follows Freedom Dabka Group - a collective of Palestinian-American dancers, living in Bay Ridge (Brooklyn) who use Dabka as a way to connect to their community and homeland. Shot on 16mm under the unique constraints of 2020-21, featuring archive photography from The Palestinian Museum.
USA
10 minutes
2021
English and Arabic
Written and Directed by Naim Naif and Margot Bowman
Produced by Meghan Doherty, Naim Naif & Margot Bowman
Introducing - Freedom Dabka Group
Cinematographer: Kenny Suleimanagich
Editor: Aika Miyake
Music Director: Gisela Fullà Silvestre
Colorist: Houmam Abdallah
Production Manager: Sokhna Samb
Translation: Sloan Abihaidar
Sound: Ken Goodwin (Silver Sound) and Peter Getz (Sound Co-op)
Archive photography - The Palestinian Museum Digital Archive
Awards:
World Premiere: South By South West (Austin, Texas)
Palm Springs International Short Fest (Palm Springs, California)
Nantucket Film Festival (Nantucket, Massachusetts)
Rooftop Films Summer Series (New York, NY)
Official selection of season 5 of POV on PBS, to air in December 2022.
Naim Naif is a Palestinian-American filmmaker born in the States and raised between Florida and Palestine. His directorial debut was the short documentary film, Coming Home (World Premiere SXSW 2022). Naim also works as a producer and UPM, with his most recent credit on HBO's How To With John Wilson. Currently based in New York City. He is a 2022 Wyncote Fellow, a program administered by American Documentary in collaboration with PBS Indies partners.
Born and raised in London, Margot Bowman uses film to build bridges. Accessible spaces of possibility and power that connect us to ourselves and each other. Her co-directed short, Coming Home, had a world premiere at SXSW 2022. She is a 2022 Wyncote Fellow, a program administered by American Documentary in collaboration with PBS Indies partners.