Presented by Fhamtini & followed by post-film panel discussion with special guests:

- Sarah Agha: broadcaster, writer, actress and founder of The Arab Film Club

- Aser El Saqqa: founder and director of Arts  Canteen, AWAN Festival and Arabs Are Not Funny

- Soudade Kaadan: award-winning film director and screenwriter 

Leaving her village to follow her dream of becoming an actress, Hiam Abbass also left behind her mother, grandmother and seven sisters. Thirty years later, her filmmaker daughter Lina returns with her to journey through the vanished places among the scattered memories of four generations of daring Palestinian women.

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.

Fhamtini? means Do you understand me? or Do you get it? in Darija, the Moroccan dialect. It is the essence of this film programme created by French-Moroccan curator Imane Lamime. Fhamtini? showcases the diversity of the films born in the Maghreb region and the experiences of the Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian people that are rarely shown on the big screen.

The films programmed as part of Fhamtini? shine a light on North African Cinema and are chosen to spark conversation, build a bridge of understanding between cultures - the speaker and the listener - the artist and the audience.

Following the UK premiere of The Blue Caftan in 2023, Fhamtini? is back this year with a special edition. In light of the ongoing genocide in Palestine, Fhamtini? is proud to be showing the powerful documentary Bye Bye Tiberias by French-Algerian-Palestinian director Lina Soualem, followed by a panel discussion around themes of exile and dispossession through the diaspora lens.