Doha Film Institute
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Thirty years ago, Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass left her native village Deir Hanna in Galilee, to follow her acting dream in France. Her daughter Lina questions her mother’s bold choices and how the women in her family, whom she left behind, have influenced her life.
Thirty years ago, Hiam left her native Palestinian village Deir Hanna in Galilee—where she grew up with her grandmother Um Ali, her mother Neemat and her seven sisters—to pursue her dream of becoming an actress in Paris. The place where her daughter Lina was born, thirty-two years ago. Despite her departure, Hiam took Lina to her village every summer during her childhood, and all their trips were filmed. As Lina looks back at these videotapes from the nineties, she starts questioning her mother’s bold choices, her chosen exile and the way the women of her family, whom she left behind, have influenced her life.

The personal journey of each woman figure in the film takes us back to a time slot in history. Despite their dispersed Palestinian identity in different territories, they have taken control over their destinies and influenced the world around them. The film, set between past and present, pieces together images shot today, family footage and historical archives. It explores the transmission of memory, space, know-how, femininity and resistance. It’s a voyage through the different lives of Palestinian women for whom dispossession has become the norm and resilience a daily background music.

Credits

Director
Lina Soualem
Screenwriter
Lina Soualem, Nadine Naous
Producer
Jean-Marie Nizan

About the Director

Lina Soualem
Lina Soualem is a French-Palestinian-Algerian filmmaker and actress born and based in Paris. She pursued her education in history and political science at La Sorbonne University. Following her studies, she began her career as a programmer for the International Human Rights Film Festival in Buenos Aires. Lina’s debut feature documentary, ‘Their Algeria’, premiered at the Visions du Réel Internation
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