WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
Years after leaving Palestine to pursue an acting career, Emmy-nominated Hiam Abbass returns with her daughter in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation.
Set between past and present, Bye Bye Tiberias pieces together images of today, family footage from the ’90s, 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. In her early twenties, Hiam Abbass (Succession) 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. Palestine’s entry for Best International Feature in the 2024 Academy Awards. [82 min; documentary; French and Arabic with English subtitles] The short film The Sound of Wind will precede the feature film, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Maria Pankova after both films.
The Sound of Wind (Maria Pankova, Ukraine, 2023): On 24 February 2022, chef Yulia loses her former life and becomes a refugee, along with her two adopted daughters, fleeing the war in Ukraine. She now works as a butcher in Scotland and her husband is in one of the most dangerous spots on the front lines. The fear and connection to war doesn’t leave her even when she is thousands of miles away. She is fighting for her children’s future, and she fears losing her husband. [17 min; drama; Ukrainian with English subtitles]
