Unveiling the Heartbreaking Odyssey of Palestinian Women in 'Bye Bye Tiberias'

The bittersweet memories of home flowed freely at the Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM) during the screening of "Bye Bye Tiberias," a poignant documentary delving into the lives of Palestinian women forcibly displaced from their homeland.

As the film unfolded, emotions surged within the screening hall. Gasps and cries punctuated the tale's most poignant moments, with several viewers moved to tears and shouting impassioned slogans in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Premiering at FIFM on Friday, the documentary chronicles the exile of director Lina Soualem's family from their ancestral home in Tiberias following the establishment of Israel in 1948. Focused on Soualem's mother, the esteemed actress Hiam Abbass, it narrates her departure from Palestine as a young woman to forge a new life in France.

"This film tells my story and the story of the women in my family," expressed an emotional Abbass before the screening. "It's difficult for us Palestinians not to be moved remembering that time."

Soualem highlighted that this screening marked the first presentation of "Bye Bye Tiberias" in the Arab world. She dedicated the film to the people of Gaza, who, over seven decades after her family's displacement, continue to endure conflict.

"With this film, I follow the path of the women of my family by recounting stories — stories that affirm our denied existence," Soualem shared with the audience.

Moroccan viewers resonated with haunting images from the family's past: Israeli settlements erected on Palestinian land, planes ominously flying over the family's village, and Abbass's mother weeping for her lost home.

The documentary, seamlessly woven from home videos, archival footage, and family interviews, traces the journey of several generations of Palestinian women fleeing war and instability, seeking safety and opportunity abroad.

While some audience members hailed "Bye Bye Tiberias" as a compelling perspective on the personal impacts of the Palestinian crisis through the eyes of the women left behind, others felt it fell short of connecting the family's heartbreak to the broader struggle of the Palestinian people.

Nonetheless, the crowd left the theater visibly emotional, passionately discussing the most powerful moments from Soualem's human story of intergenerational exile. Through the beauty and pain of her family history, she succeeds in personalizing the often-forgotten plight of Palestinians driven from their homes yet forever bound to their lost paradise.