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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Andrei Popoviciu; photography by Alexandra Corcode

‘A dream come true’: Syrian twin actors return home after 14 years of exile in France

The Malas brothers on the balcony of their apartment. Dirty net curtains hang behind them
The Malas brothers on the balcony of their Damascus apartment. Photograph: Alexandra Corcode

Thick layers of dust shimmer in sunlight as Mohamad and Ahmad Malas sift through old belongings in their Damascus apartment, abandoned for 14 years.

The air inside is heavy with a scent of old wood. With every step the brothers make, the floor creaks. Chairs, couches and chandeliers in the living room are cloaked in dust, and on one of the walls portraits of their father and one of their brothers, who have died, hang frozen in time. There’s no electricity so they use their phone torches to light their way as they collect personal artefacts they long forgot about.

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