The UK’s largest festival of Arab cinema returns to Hull with two award-winning films from Palestine and Sudan exploring family and friendship, exile, memory and the realities of daily life under war and occupation.

Goodbye Julia (18 June, 19:30)
Mohamed Kordofani | Sudan, Egypt, Germany, France, KSA, Sweden | 2023 | 120’
Arabic

Set in Khartoum just before the secession of South Sudan, Mona, a married former singer from the north, seeks redemption for causing the death of a southern man by hiring his oblivious wife as her maid.
Unable to confess her transgressions, Mona decides to leave the past behind and adjust to a new status quo, unaware that the country’s turmoil may find its way into her home and put her face to face with her sins.
Goodbye Julia world premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard where it won the Freedom Prize.

Find more information and book tickets for Goodbye Julia here.

Bye Bye Tiberias (27 June, 19:30)
Lina Soualem | France, Palestine , Belgium, Qatar | 2023 | 82’ | French, Palestinian Arabic
Closed captions and Audio Description available
Feature documentary

In her early twenties, Hiam Abbass left her native Palestinian village to follow her dream of becoming an actress in Europe, leaving behind her mother, grandmother, and seven sisters.
Thirty years later, her filmmaker daughter Lina returns with her to the village and questions for the first time her mother’s bold choices, her chosen exile and the way the women in their family influenced both their lives.
Set between past and present, Bye Bye Tiberias pieces together images of today, family footage from the nineties and historical archives to portray four generations of daring Palestinian women who keep their story and legacy alive through the strength of their bonds, despite exile, dispossession, and heartbreak.

Find more information and book tickets for Bye Bye Tiberias here.

SAFAR Film Festival, the UK’s largest festival of Arab cinema, screens in 9 UK cities from 18-30 June and is supported by the British Film Institute, awarding funds from the National Lottery, British Council, Bagri Foundation and Barjeel Art Foundation.
Explore the full programme on www.safarfilmfestival.co.uk