The Homecoming

The author Alexander lchenitchin used to be one of the severest critics of the Soviet Union. For this reason he was forced to live in exile for more than twenty years, first as a prisoner in Siberian labour camps, later as a political refugee in the United States. After the collapse of the Soviet empire the Nobel Prize winner could finally return to Russia in 1994. A BBC film crew led by Archie Baron got permission to film the journey back. The Homecoming shows how Russia and Solchenitchin are reintroduced to each other after two decades. For Solchenitchin this voyage at times entails a bleak confrontation with present?day Russia, where on the one hand he receives a hero's welcome, but on the other he is still pestered by the KGB.