Sponsored by Andrea Rogers
Winner: Best Documentary, London Film Festival
Thirty years ago, Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass (best-known for Succession, as well as films like Lemon Tree and Paradise Now) left her village in Galilee to follow her dreams of acting in France. In this poignant portrait, both deeply personal and inescapably political, filmmaker Lina Soualem — who is also Abbas’ daughter — traces the story of her mother, her mother’s mother, and their extended family, all of whose lives have been defined by separation, exile, and displacement. Interwoven with nostalgic home video recordings and rich archival footage of Palestinian life through the decades, Bye Bye Tiberias is a moving memoir about the burden of leaving, the endurance of memory, and the determination to forge one’s own destinies and identities.