Previewing Thu 27 June 18:00 with a Q&A with the film's co-writer Nadine Naous. Brought to you in partnership with Bristol Palestine Film Festival.

In her early twenties, Hiam Abbass left her native Palestinian village to follow her dream of becoming an actress in Europe, leaving behind her mother, grandmother, and seven sisters.

Thirty years later, her filmmaker daughter Lina returns with her to the village and questions for the first time her mother’s bold choices, her chosen exile and the way the women in their family influenced both their lives.

Set between past and present, Bye Bye Tiberias pieces together images of today, family footage from the nineties and historical archives to portray four generations of daring Palestinian women who keep their story and legacy alive through the strength of their bonds, despite exile, dispossession, and heartbreak.

Bye Bye Tiberias is the second documentary of Lina Soualem, a French-Palestinian-Algerian filmmaker and actress, born and based in Paris. Her first feature Their Algeria (SAFAR, 2021) shone a spotlight on her paternal grandparents as they embarked on a divorce later in life. The film received over a dozen awards from festivals in Europe and the Arab world. Bye Bye Tiberias won the Grierson Award for Documentary Film at London Film Festival 2023 and was Palestine’s submission to the Academy Awards in 2024.

Access info: Screenings and Q&As will be presented with closed captions and/or BSL interpretation. Audio description is also available for the film.