Palestinian Oscar entry “Bye Bye Tiberias” secures US distribution with Women Make Movies

EXCLUSIVE: New York-based Women Make Movies has acquired US rights to a Palestinian Oscar entry Goodbye Tiberias by Lina Soualem.

In the intimate work, Soualem follows her Palestinian-French actress mother Hiam Abbass back to the Arab village within Israel’s borders that she left in the 1980s to pursue her acting career in Europe.

There they reflect on their past and the lives of Abbass’s mother and grandmother in a powerful work that explores themes of displacement, identity and survival of four generations of women.

WMM director Debra Zimmerman said the film was a “perfect fit” for the label, which aims to showcase the work of female filmmakers.

“It’s a beautiful film about four generations of Palestinian women,” she said. “I am delighted that we now have the opportunity to bring this film to the widest possible audience that needs and deserves to see it.”

Goodbye Tiberias celebrated its world premiere in the parallel Giornate degli Autori section of the Venice Film Festival, followed by its North American premiere in Toronto. The film has since screened at numerous festivals and will next be seen at the Palm Springs Film Festival, which runs from January 5 to 15, 2023.

“We are pleased to partner with Women Make Movies for US distribution of Goodbye Tiberias“says Bojana Maric of the Swiss-French sales agent Lightdox.

“Lina Soualem’s timely and intimate film enjoys continued festival success and fits perfectly with the mission and goals of Women Make Movies. We are confident that they will preserve the legacy of these courageous women, their memories, their resilience and tenderness by telling their story to audiences across the United States.”

Included Goodbye Tiberias14 WMM films and filmmakers have qualified for the 2024 Academy Awards. Qualified for the Oscar 2024, including Katja Esson Destruction of Freedom SquareDawn Porter included The Lady Bird Diaries; Meet Sarvnik Kaur Against the current; Cecilia Aldarando with You were my first friend; Sonia Kennebeck with Reality Winner; and Nancy Schwartzman with Victim/suspect.

Some of these were created with support from WMM’s Production Assistance Program including: Little Richard by Lisa Cortes; Go to Mars by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster; Invisible beauty by Bethann Hardison and Frédéric Tcheng; Kill a tiger by Nisha Pahuja; Colonized twice by Lina Alluna; 1946: The Mistranslation That Changed a Culture by Sharon “Rocky” Roggio; And Joonam by Sierra Urich.

Women Make Movies was founded in 1972 to support the work of female filmmakers and has since distributed an impressive range of films, including films by Jane Campion, Lourdes Portillo and Kim Longinotto.

The Production Assistance Program was created in the 1980s with Julie Dash’s groundbreaking production Daughters of the Dusthas helped women raise more than $100 million and supported first-time films from filmmakers including Marielle Heller, Dee Rees, Laura Poitras and Dawn Porter.

Soualem welcomed the agreement.

“Women Make Movies is a distribution company I’ve looked up to for years,” she said. “I love their team of amazing women who do great work on independent and politically engaged films. I couldn’t have asked for a better collaboration.”

Aside from being the Palestinian Oscar submission, Goodbye Tiberias is also eligible for the Best Documentary Award. Film Independent also recently announced that the film has been nominated for the Independent Spirit Best Documentary Award.

The film won the Grierson Award in London and the Joint Jury Prize at the recent Marrakech International Film Festival.

Goodbye Tiberias is presented by Beall Productions in co-production with Altitude 100 Production and Philistine Films in association with Arte France – La Lucarne.

The film was produced by Jean-Marie Nizan and shot with the support of the Center National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée, Center du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Tax Shelter du gouvernement fédéral de Belgique, Inver Tax Shelter, Doha Film Institute and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.