Bye Bye Tiberias (2023)
and
The Silent Protest (2019)
In a partnership with DNTA, DCA screened Bye Bye Tiberias (2023) and The Silent Protest 1929 (2019) as part of the Dundee Women’s Festival. Both these inspirational documentaries were well received.
Shown at DCA Cinema Two, Wednesday 6th March 2024
Bye Bye Tiberias
Directed by Lina Soualem, Bye Bye Tiberias tells of Hiam Abbass’ return to her native Palestinian village 30 years after leaving to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Through her daughter’s moving film, we learn about the lives of four generations of Palestinian women, who keep their history alive through their strong family ties. Bye Bye Tiberias is remarkable for its authenticity, humour and very human portrayal of survival in the face of exile, dispossession and heartbreak. Palestinian women cannot be stereotyped. While they are often strong willed, like us they have their doubts, internal conflicts and frailties and are all the more human for that!
2023, Director: Lina Soualem (Cert: 15, 1h 22m. Occupied Palestine / France / Belgium / Qatar / 2023)
The Silent Protest
The Silent Protest tells the story of the silent demonstration that 300 Palestinian women (including leading figure Zulaykha al-Shihabi) staged in Jerusalem on October 26, 1929, in protest at the British High Commissioner’s bias against Arabs in the 1929 riots. The film challenges stereotypes by showing Palestinian women as feminist pioneers, political activists and nationalists.
2019, Director: Mahasen Nasser Eldin (20 min. Palestine 2019)
Panel: Mahasen Nasser-Eldin
We were delighted that director Mahasen Nasser Eldin joined us for the post-film conversation about the making of The Silent Protest.
The film challenges stereotypes by showing Palestinian women as feminist pioneers, political activists and nationalists. In their struggle against injustice, Mahasen notes that the Palestinian women had the ability to “overcome factional and religious differences” while the men struggled to create a unified voice with which to lead the community.
Yet their story could well have been lost. Taking her inspiration from a single photograph of the demonstration, it was fascinating to hear how Mahasen created the film from fragmented archival material, a task made harder by the destruction and dispersal of documents.
Despite these challenges, Mahasen resurrects through images and sound the story of the The Silent Protest, a story whose themes resonate today.
Although both films are very different, they are similar in their desire to reclaim Palestinian history. Both documentaries weave together recent images and archival material to preserve stories that could easily have been lost to posterity. The dedication of these young Palestinian women film-makers, who tell stories in the face of Israeli attempts to erase Palestine history, is inspirational.
We look forward to working with DCA to screen Palestinian films as part in the Dundee Women’s Festival in the future and hope that you will join us.