Filmmaker Lina Soualem and her mother Hiam Abbass; (inset, below) the film explores her Palestinian family history
OMAR HAMDANE, FRIDA MARZOUK/BEALL PRODUCTIONS
After making Their Algeria (2020), which dealt with both her paternal grandparents and the Algerian War of Independence, filmmaker Lina Soualem was faced with one question. ‘Everyone was asking, “How are you going to film your maternal family from Palestine?” I would always say, “I don’t have the courage to do it. It’s very intense.” And finally, I think it was my mission… I was resisting because I was afraid of tackling the subject.’
Overcoming her fears, Soualem now presents her highly personal documentary Bye Bye Tiberias. Since 2018, the French-Palestinian-Algerian director has been combing through family archives to tell the story of four generations of Palestinian women – including her mother, the actor Hiam Abbass (Munich, Succession). Mixing home movies and photos with interviews, poetry readings and new footage, the film looks at both her own family’s displacement and that of the Palestinian people.