Bye Bye Tiberias [2023]

 French-Palestinian-Algerian filmmaker Lina Soualem’s delicately strung, lyrically shaped and deeply intimate diary film Bye Bye Tiberias, like Karim Aïnouz’s similarly evocative ciné-memoir Mariner of the Mountains, is an eloquently crafted expression of the search for one’s homeland and roots, guided by memories, and driven by the longing for a lost space and time. A journey like this, therefore is as much temporal as it’s spatial, and equally emotional and physical. It’s also a moving expression of female and familial solidarity, through its remembrance of and meditations on four generations of women whose lives have been one of displacement and exile. What emerged through this deceptively intricate assemblage is a layered tapestry informed by the interconnectedness of the personal and the political. Hiam Abbass – professional movie actress, amateur poet and the filmmaker’s mother – had emigrated to France in her 20s to escape and pursue acting. Her daughter’s birth had restored the shaken ties to her family. And now, in her 60s, she agrees to recount their family saga –grandmother Um Ali who, along with her family, was forced to leave their home in Tiberias during the 1948 Nakba; granddad Hosni who died of grief; aunt Hosnieh who’d taken shelter in a refugee camp in Syria and was separated for 30 years; mom Nemat who became a teacher and raised eight kids; her father who loved recording family events on camera; her sisters who’ve lived under the occupation – and take a cathartic trip along with her daughter. This, therefore, was simultaneously a tale of violence, loss and anguish – and, in turn, a bleak reminder of the unabated persecution of the Palestinian people across generations – as one of resilience, resistance and reconciliation.

Director: Lina Soualem

Genre: Documentary/Diary Film/Essay Film

Language: French/Arabic

Country: Palestine