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MC Distribution has recently heralded the inclusion of Bye Bye Tiberias, a film directed by Lina Soualem, in its lineup for Venice Days. This cinematic work, spanning 80 minutes and a collaborative effort involving France, Palestine, Belgium and Qatar, promises to be a notable addition to the festival running from August 30 to September 9.

Bye Bye Tiberias unfolds the narrative of a woman who courageously forges her path, casting aside her ancestral roots. In her early 20s, Hiam Abbass departs from 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 1990s 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.

Lina Soualem, the filmaker

French-Palestinian-Algerian filmmaker and actress, Soualem is born and based in Paris. After studying History and Political Science at La Sorbonne University, she worked as a programmer for the International Human Rights Film Festival in Buenos Aires. Her debut feature documentary Their Algeria premiered in Visions du Réel International Film Festival 2020, and received the First Film Award in CINEMED Montpellier International Festival of Mediterranean Film, the Best Arab Documentary Award in El Gouna Film Festival and the Best Documentary Award at Cinemania Film Festival 2021, among a dozen other awards. Soualem also acted in three feature films directed by Hafsia Herzi, Hiam Abbass and Rayhana. She currently writes for fiction, documentaries and TV series.

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