Talal Derki (Arabic: طلال ديركي ; born 24 July 1977 in Damascus, Syria of Kurdish descent) is a director, producer and screenwriter. Talal Derki studied film directing in Athens at Stavrako High Institute of Cinematographic Art and Television, graduation in 2003. He worked as an assistant director for feature film productions and was a director for different Arab TV programs & TV films between 2009 and 2012. He worked as a freelance cameraman for CNN and Thomson Reuters. Talal Derki’s short films and documentaries received awards at a variety of festivals. His feature documentary RETURN TO HOMS has won the Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. In 2014 he was a member of the international Jury at IDFA. Talal Derki lives now in Exile in Berlin, Germany.