POV: 28x5

Return to Homs

The transformation of a one-time goalie for the Syrian national soccer team from peaceful protester to armed opponent of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime is chronicled. In 2011, when the documentary begins, 19-year-old Abdul Basset Saroot—once voted the second best goalie in Asia—is singing protest songs to like-minded people in Homs. The regime responds to the protests, however, with artillery fire, tanks, jets and snipers. Assad and his friends see no option but one: take up arms.