Leaving her village to follow her dream of becoming an actress, Hiam Abbass also left behind her mother, grandmother and seven sisters. 30 years later, her filmmaker daughter Lina returns with her to journey through the vanished places among the scattered memories of four generations of daring Palestinian women in her family. One of whom is her mother Hiam Abbass, the celebrated star whose credits include PARADISE NOW, LEMON TREE, SUCCESSION, INHERITANCE, and MUNICH.

“But again, Soualem here points out the general by portraying the personal and the result is a minimalist masterpiece, one that should be required viewing for all diplomats, politicians but also citizens of the world who wish to understand what the concept and the underlying causes of the Palestinian struggle are.” (Nina Rothe Blog)

Lina Soualem is a French-Palestinian-Algerian filmmaker and actress, born and based in Paris. After studying at La Sorbonne University, she started working as a programmer for the International Human Rights Film Festival in Buenos Aires. Her debut feature documentary THEIR ALGERIA 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, among others. Furthermore, she acted in three feature films and currently works as an author on fiction films, documentaries and tv series. Recently, she worked as a researcher and writing coordinator on the series OUSSEKINE.

Filmography (selection): 2020 THEIR ALGERIA, 2023 BYE BYE TIBERIAS