This film is part of Rentals

Bye Bye Tiberias PG rating

A daughter’s powerful love letter to her mother and the strength of four generations of a Palestinian family.

Documentary 2023 83 mins

Director: Lina Soualem

Overview

Hiam Abbass, the star of Succession and films ranging from Lemon Tree to Blade Runner 2049, undertakes a journey back to her native Palestinian village in her daughter Lina Soualem’s tender and award-winning documentary. In her early twenties, Hiam Abbass left Palestine for Europe in order to follow her dreams of becoming an actor. She left behind her mother, grandmother and seven sisters.

Some 30 years later, Soualem employs archival footage, photographs and poetry to excavate her family’s history and four generations of women who each had to make difficult decisions regarding their future. The result, as Hiam and Lina reconnect with their homeland, is a moving story of motherhood, fractured identity and lost homes, made with warmth and humour. It’s essential and deeply affecting for anyone who has ever wished to understand their mother better.