1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX
2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
3
00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,000
Behind those mountains, it's Lebanon.
4
00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,960
Look, behind this mountain
is the Syria-Lebanon border.
5
00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:02,520
Syria is right there.
6
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,720
And that's the border
between Palestine and Jordan.
7
00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,000
Look, Lina, Lake Tiberias.
8
00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:21,800
I want to go down there.
9
00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,880
As a child, my mother took me
swimming in this lake.
10
00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,000
As if to bathe me in her story.
11
00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:55,440
I was born far from this land
12
00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:57,520
and far from this lake.
13
00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,240
It's been a long time since I swam there.
14
00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,080
I don't know where they are.
15
00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,000
It's been years since I got those things out.
16
00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:40,640
You never showed me these photos.
17
00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:42,560
Is that you?
18
00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:43,920
My first photo!
19
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:46,080
I think I was 13.
20
00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,000
- This photo drove me crazy.
- Why?
21
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,840
I don't know.
Look at the sadness in my eyes.
22
00:02:58,120 --> 00:02:59,680
This is Nemat.
23
00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:01,480
My mother, look.
24
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:04,600
See how beautiful she is?
25
00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:10,440
When I was young, her hair was like that
and she dressed very smartly.
26
00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:12,920
This is Um Ali.
27
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:14,680
My grandmother.
28
00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:17,760
I look like her, see.
29
00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,280
Here. Don't you agree?
30
00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:28,240
Lina...
31
00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,120
The first time I took you
to Deir Hanna.
32
00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:32,600
You see?
33
00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,000
You as a baby
with your great-grandmother Um Ali.
34
00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:39,680
This is me and this is my mother.
35
00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:42,160
So, who do I look like?
36
00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:43,720
No one!
37
00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:48,840
Is it my first photo there?
38
00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:50,800
Yes, on the balcony.
39
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,680
What are those notebooks?
40
00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:54,600
The notebooks...
41
00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,520
They're poems.
I wrote poems when I was young.
42
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,480
Between the ages of 14 and 19,
I was quite a poet.
43
00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,080
Can you read me one?
44
00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:12,840
It's a real poem.
45
00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:19,480
Lead the herd to the meadow
46
00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:25,880
Go towards the greenery of the plain
47
00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,400
The dawn enhances your eyes
48
00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:35,840
With phantoms of dancing light
49
00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:41,280
Your hair undulates
50
00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,640
to the rhythm of the breeze
51
00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:47,840
Oh, brunette
52
00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,840
Oh, forest song
53
00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,840
Dreams of pasture
54
00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,120
Oh, brunette
55
00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:03,880
Oh, forest song
56
00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:09,520
Oh, forest song
57
00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:15,080
Oh, forest song
58
00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,880
It's these words,
59
00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,080
this literature, this language...
60
00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,720
I wish you could know this language.
61
00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,600
I can speak it, but not read it.
62
00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:33,920
It's never too late.
63
00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,840
- But I know it. I just can't write it.
- It enriches you.
64
00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,880
Mastering a language
and appreciating it this much
65
00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:43,840
really enriches you.
66
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:47,120
Lina!
67
00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:48,760
Look at me.
68
00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:50,920
Tell me to stop.
69
00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:53,040
Lina, say, "Stop, mama."
70
00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:54,520
Go on, say it.
71
00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:58,240
Stop, mama.
72
00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:03,080
I was born in Paris.
73
00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:06,920
My mother passed on to me
half her language.
74
00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,560
A fragment of her mother tongue.
75
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:13,400
When I was little,
76
00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,400
we'd spend summer
in her Palestinian village,
77
00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:17,760
Deir Hanna.
78
00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,360
She left the village 30 years ago
79
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,160
to follow her dream
of becoming an actress.
80
00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,120
She never spoke about her departure.
81
00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,600
When I ask about it, she says,
82
00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:37,640
"Don't open the gate to past sorrows."
83
00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:42,480
Her grandmother Um Ali
and her mother Nemat would say that
84
00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,000
when she asked about their past.
85
00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:53,120
I'm the first woman in my family
born far from this Palestinian village.
86
00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:03,480
Raise your voice, Deir Hanna!
87
00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:05,320
God is our protector!
88
00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:11,600
Raise your voice!
89
00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,040
God is our protector!
90
00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,520
All of you walk ahead of me!
91
00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:44,200
- Let Great-Grandma Um Ali tickle you.
- Give me your hand.
92
00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:47,320
Play with her.
93
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:49,160
Play with me instead.
94
00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,720
- Come to Grandma Nemat.
- Go on.
95
00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,080
Come play with Grandma Nemat.
96
00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,400
I'll give you some chewing-gum.
97
00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,080
Old lady, old fairy,
98
00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,480
give me the jug of oil
99
00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,160
so I can fry the omelette.
100
00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:07,560
One...
101
00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:09,080
Two...
102
00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:11,600
Three...
103
00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:13,040
Four...
104
00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:14,480
Five.
105
00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,280
- Want the chick or the hen?
- The hen!
106
00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:22,680
My chewing-gum?
107
00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,560
Again.
You do it to me this time.
108
00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,600
Images of the past
overlap those of the present.
109
00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:47,200
By filming me,
110
00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,440
my father placed me in the story
of the women in my family...
111
00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,440
These images of childhood
112
00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:00,200
conceal the reality of a place
113
00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,840
that may disappear any day now.
114
00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,000
These images are my memory's treasure.
115
00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:10,800
I don't want them to fade.
116
00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:16,160
I know that they too
might sink into oblivion.
117
00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,000
We'll put Um Ali here.
118
00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:30,120
Um Ali in the middle?
119
00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:31,320
Yes.
120
00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,800
Nemat here.
121
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:41,480
Nemat...
122
00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,280
Hiam, here...
123
00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,680
And this is 1948.
124
00:09:57,560 --> 00:09:58,720
Exile.
125
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:02,520
My grandparents.
126
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,520
This photo was always
on the wall at home.
127
00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,120
Now them and their children.
We can put them here.
128
00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:15,600
It's a beautiful photo.
129
00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,080
It was before
they had to leave Tiberias.
130
00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,400
- Stick it here.
- Alright.
131
00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,200
Why don't you do the sticking?
My fingers are starting to hurt.
132
00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:33,440
There.
133
00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:40,840
This is the four of us.
134
00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:43,440
The four generations.
135
00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,040
I wrote a text
about the women in my family.
136
00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,720
A story of vanished places
and scattered memories.
137
00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:04,440
The story of my great-grandmother,
138
00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:05,760
my grandmother,
139
00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:07,480
my mother and her aunt.
140
00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:13,680
Women who learned to leave everything
and start anew.
141
00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:19,800
"Um Ali, my great-grandmother..."
142
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,520
Your great-grandmother.
143
00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:24,200
"...is the first woman of this line.''
144
00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,320
''The one who haunts my memory''
145
00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,400
''and the one with whom it all began.''
146
00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,440
''I don't know much about her.''
147
00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:38,440
''I know that when she was 15,
she married Hosni Tabari,''
148
00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,920
''who bears the name
of their birthplace, Tiberias,''
149
00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:43,880
''Tabarya in Arabic,''
150
00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,160
''the capital of Galilee.''
151
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:49,800
''It was on the waters of Lake Tiberias''
152
00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:52,160
''that Jesus walked.''
153
00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:55,360
''When I was little,''
154
00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,440
''I was convinced
that I was a descendant of Jesus''
155
00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:01,800
''and that my family was holy."
156
00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,480
Did you really believe that, Lina?
157
00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:05,920
Yes.
158
00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,480
"I can't imagine Um Ali as a young girl.''
159
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:17,040
''For me, she only began to exist in 1948,''
160
00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:19,000
''when the war broke out''
161
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,480
''and she, Hosni her husband,
and their children''
162
00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,760
''were driven out of Tiberias''
163
00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,640
''and propelled into history."
164
00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,440
"I see them,
wandering from village to village''
165
00:12:57,880 --> 00:12:59,920
''in search of refuge.''
166
00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,480
''At the border with Lebanon,''
167
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:07,200
''they stopped.''
168
00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,120
''There, Um Ali heard
that her eldest daughter, Hosnieh,''
169
00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,160
''was already on the other side,
in Syria.''
170
00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:19,400
''Um Ali wanted to follow her,''
171
00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,560
''but her husband refused.''
172
00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:29,320
''I imagine him saying,''
173
00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,000
''I'll never leave this country.''
174
00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:40,480
''The family was exhausted.''
175
00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,080
''They slept out, under the olive trees.''
176
00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:49,760
''I hear Um Ali's muffled sobs
on this moonless night.''
177
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,240
''The next morning,''
178
00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,640
''the family turned back.''
179
00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,200
''With a heavy heart,''
180
00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:04,840
''Um Ali thought of her daughter
lost in Syria.''
181
00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,520
''Hosni, her husband,
wanted to go home''
182
00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:12,400
''to return to his house,
his life as a farmer,''
183
00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:13,920
''and the lake.''
184
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:19,040
''He didn't yet know
the Israeli forces had taken Tiberias''
185
00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:21,160
''and that he had lost everything.''
186
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,640
''The family found refuge
in a small Palestinian village''
187
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:34,880
''just 30 km from Tiberias,''
188
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:38,920
''inside the borders''
189
00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,640
''of the new Israeli state.''
190
00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:46,720
''Hosni was inconsolable.''
191
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,680
''Day and night,
he hailed passers-by along the road.''
192
00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,040
'''Have you seen my cows?''
193
00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,640
''Have you seen my donkey?''
194
00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:03,720
''Until this very day, I hear
the echo of this question to the world.''
195
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,000
''Have you seen my cows,''
196
00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:09,240
''my donkey?''
197
00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,760
''Hosni lost his mind and died of grief.''
198
00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,880
''Um Ali found herself alone.''
199
00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:19,600
''She had eight children''
200
00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:22,880
''and a sewing machine to support them."
201
00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,440
Um Ali died when I was 10.
202
00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:54,240
Her death deeply affected my mother.
203
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,320
She wrote a poem about it.
204
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,120
On our last trip to Deir Hanna,
205
00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,800
I asked her to read it to her mother.
206
00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,440
For the first time, I saw them
207
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,840
return to the traces of the past
in front of me.
208
00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,560
I wrote this long ago.
Listen to it.
209
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,480
I hope you'll be
a better poet one day.
210
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:27,280
Inch'Allah.
211
00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:29,080
I'm getting there.
212
00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,360
"She was the most beautiful woman
in the world,''
213
00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,560
''despite her age.''
214
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:37,720
''In the lines of her face''
215
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,440
''and behind her deep wrinkles,''
216
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:42,560
''her story lay hidden.''
217
00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:48,040
''Her voice was a sweet lullaby''
218
00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,800
''that lulled babies to sleep.''
219
00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:53,880
''I would put my head on her chest''
220
00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:57,040
''so she could stroke my hair''
221
00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,400
''with her soft, comforting hand.''
222
00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:04,640
''While I could have stayed asleep forever
on her shoulder,''
223
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:10,840
''I was always more eager to stay awake
and hear her story.''
224
00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:14,360
''One day, she told me..."
225
00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:21,480
Your grandmother, right?
226
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:31,120
"I have never known happier times''
227
00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,120
''than those I lived in Tiberias.''
228
00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,600
''It has been fifty years
since I last set foot there.''
229
00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,440
''Since then, life has changed,''
230
00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:47,160
''not only in Tiberias, but everywhere
in this part of the world.''
231
00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,280
''The British ordered us
to leave our homes,''
232
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:57,760
''saying the Jewish troops
had declared war on the Palestinians.''
233
00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:02,920
''I am going to die soon.''
234
00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:06,000
''You'll bury my body with my history,''
235
00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:08,920
''my prayers and my memories."
236
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,680
The mosque was in front of the hotel.
237
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:12,800
So your house was behind the mosque?
238
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:14,760
Opposite, but further down.
239
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,240
But there's nothing left of it now.
240
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,240
It was an old building.
241
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:23,680
They demolished it.
242
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,520
I don't want to bother you.
243
00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:33,520
It's alright, my darling.
244
00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:36,480
Getting you back up will be harder.
245
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,800
I want to take you to the lake,
so we can see it.
246
00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,360
I'm prettier than you two!
247
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,920
I'm the prettiest in the Middle East!
248
00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:35,160
No, I'm the prettiest.
Take off your lipstick.
249
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,600
I look like Miss Universe.
250
00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:46,240
Don't film our feet.
I'm wearing slippers.
251
00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:50,240
My shoes are the most beautiful.
252
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:54,400
The only ones born in this house
are Jallal and Hanan.
253
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,920
So you had Omaya, Buthayna,
Johayna,
254
00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:02,400
Diana, Hiam, Wafa,
255
00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:05,760
Naief and Zahera.
256
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,480
Eight of us
were born in the old house
257
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,480
where we had only one room
and a kitchen.
258
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,480
You and Dad slept in a bed this big
259
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,880
and we slept on mattresses
around your bed.
260
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,800
There was a row of mattresses
in front of the bed.
261
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,720
How did you ever do it? And where?
I need to understand.
262
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:28,920
In silent mode!
263
00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:30,440
Wait!
264
00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:35,280
Let me turn that question around
to my children.
265
00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:40,400
Did you ever notice your mother
and your father kicking each other?
266
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:42,560
Kicking each other!
267
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,680
My mother says my father wrote this.
268
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:49,800
The second poem is
Hope and Promises,
269
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,560
written on May 13, 1954.
270
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:54,720
I'd begun reading it to you.
271
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:56,040
Listen, mother.
272
00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,520
Never think I'll ever betray you
273
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,120
Even if I know
only suffering and madness,
274
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,560
I'll always be yours
275
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,520
You are the light of my eyes
276
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:12,080
Stop!
277
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:15,800
My heart flies towards you,
full of joy
278
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,320
My body reaches for you
279
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:20,720
Wow!
280
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:22,440
I don't know why...
281
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,240
But I know I'll never forget
282
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:27,480
The kisses from her lips
283
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:29,640
That isn't about me!
284
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,560
Dad loved someone else maybe?
285
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,400
You would kiss on the lips
behind our backs!
286
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,320
Wait.
287
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:41,560
- Your mother was pure.
- It's ok, you were married!
288
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,720
Your mother held onto her honour
until her wedding day.
289
00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,920
- Why are you saying that?
- To reassure you.
290
00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:54,000
But your ten children
didn't appear out of thin air!
291
00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:55,400
All legitimate!
292
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,160
What a handsome young man!
293
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,120
''I wish you were here with us.''
294
00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:19,720
I wish I was too.
295
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,280
Hopefully, I'll come to see you soon.
296
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,440
''How long?''
297
00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:26,880
When I finish working.
298
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:28,640
In a month or two.
299
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,280
''I mean how long will you stay?''
300
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,160
That will depend on my work.
301
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:36,160
''Stay a long time.''
302
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,480
You want me to stay
a long time?
303
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:41,160
I'll stay a long time, inch'Allah.
304
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:44,360
Bye now, my dear.
305
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:49,800
What's wrong?
306
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,480
Don't cry.
I call to make you happy.
307
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:02,120
''These are tears of joy.
My heart is dancing inside.''
308
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:03,480
I'm sure it is.
309
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,480
Ok, my sweet, I'll call you tomorrow.
We talk every day.
310
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,520
''I'm asking you all...''
311
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:14,200
''Don't abandon me.''
312
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,840
- ''Let's make the most of each other.''
- Of course, Mum.
313
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,920
I'll never abandon you.
You think I'll forget you?
314
00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:24,360
I'm a bit far away from you.
315
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,480
I have to get organized
to come to see you.
316
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:31,360
Bye, mother dear.
317
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,200
''You're all in my heart forever.''
318
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:37,160
And you're in ours, forever.
319
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,480
Bye now, dear.
320
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,320
''Goodbye.''
321
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:47,720
''Kiss everyone for me.''
322
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:49,080
I will.
323
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:13,160
The last time I saw my grandmother
in Deir Hanna, she confided in me.
324
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,160
She said her greatest source of pride
325
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:20,480
was to have kept on teaching
while raising her ten children.
326
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:23,840
Shall I go on?
327
00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:27,480
Can you move on to the story
of Grandma Nemat, your mother?
328
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:28,960
Yes.
329
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:32,560
"Nemat.''
330
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,880
''I've always felt intimidated by Nemat.''
331
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,320
''She has a natural authority.''
332
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:44,320
''She has a strict gaze
and is always very organized.''
333
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,520
''My grandmother
looks just like a teacher.''
334
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,720
''I see her at least once a year
during the summer holidays.''
335
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,600
''She treats me
to delicious fried eggplant with garlic''
336
00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,160
''and all the stories she tells me.''
337
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,080
''Nemat was born in Tiberias.''
338
00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:11,200
''She was Um Ali and Hosni's
second daughter.''
339
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,440
''She was a hardworking
and gifted student.''
340
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:28,480
''After primary school,''
341
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:32,200
''her teacher encouraged her
to keep on studying.''
342
00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:33,760
''That was unusual''
343
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,280
''for the daughter
of a farmer and a seamstress.''
344
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:43,240
''And so, at 13,''
345
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:48,000
''Nemat joined the prestigious
"School for Teachers" in Jerusalem,''
346
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,600
''Dar el Mo'alimat,
a school run by nuns.''
347
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:56,520
''This school selected
the best female students in Palestine.''
348
00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:07,400
''I never thought to ask
what dress she wore for her first day,''
349
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,120
''or what her favourite subjects were.''
350
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,440
''What I do know is that in 1948,''
351
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,760
''just a few months before her graduation,
war broke out.''
352
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:30,440
''She was 16.''
353
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:33,920
''All her dreams came to an end.''
354
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:54,760
''The British army took her back
to Tiberias.''
355
00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:02,040
''As soon as she joined her family,
they were driven out of the city.''
356
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:07,920
''Nemat didn't know then
that everything had changed forever.''
357
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,160
''She would never see
her childhood home again.''
358
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,360
''Despite being hounded by fate,
Nemat held on to her dream.''
359
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,800
''She managed to become a teacher."
360
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,600
You know, my mother
always taught me to forgive.
361
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,120
She always insisted
362
00:31:57,600 --> 00:31:59,480
in our upbringing
363
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:03,640
on teaching us how to forgive others.
364
00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,400
Today, I wish I could ask my mother...
365
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,120
if she forgives me for making a choice
366
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:19,880
that was contrary to her traditions
and her life.
367
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,480
The letters that we sent her
368
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:10,040
when we were travelling.
369
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:12,200
She kept them here.
370
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:21,320
More photos.
371
00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:30,600
Her watch.
372
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:41,240
I'll take these.
373
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:53,440
I don't know whose they are.
374
00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,640
I'll take them anyway.
I think they were my mother's.
375
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:00,200
Alright...
376
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:09,600
Nothing left.
377
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:57,680
Mum...
378
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,120
What will happen to the house?
379
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:02,720
It's been sold.
380
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:10,200
That's sad.
381
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:13,240
We could have kept it.
382
00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:41,560
This house has no meaning
without my mother.
383
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:46,640
I'm going around in circles
in a place without a soul.
384
00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:51,680
It's hard for me to be here
385
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:54,480
as I didn't see her
when she passed away.
386
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:02,800
How old was I
when you first brought me here?
387
00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:06,800
You were 18 months old
when I first brought you here.
388
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,360
I wanted you to meet my mother.
389
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,720
Why didn't Grandma Nemat
come to Paris when I was born?
390
00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:23,200
Before you were born,
I had decided not to come back here.
391
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,280
I had severed all ties with my family.
392
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,200
But when you were born,
393
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:33,840
you were like an angel
that reconciled us.
394
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,840
When I came back with you,
395
00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:44,040
no one mentioned
what had happened before.
396
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,800
Is there any more eggplant?
397
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:50,680
Yes, sweetheart.
398
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:53,320
Is that why you took me?
399
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:55,040
To reconcile with them?
400
00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:56,480
No, Lina.
401
00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,720
It felt too hard
to become a mother
402
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,440
in exile in Paris, without my mother.
403
00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:12,520
Remember, at the time,
I didn't speak French, only Arabic,
404
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,480
and all my memories
came from Palestine.
405
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:38,480
Do you think I was wrong
to bring you here?
406
00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:44,280
No, you were right.
407
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:48,440
My God, Lina!
408
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:58,920
Sales on winter clothing
and the new collection!
409
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,760
Up to 30% off!
410
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:08,440
Clothing for children and adults!
411
00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:15,920
You can't see a thing now!
412
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:21,920
What's up there? A military base?
413
00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:25,640
Here, you hear a lot of planes
414
00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:29,800
that keep flying around.
There are loads
415
00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:34,800
of Israeli military bases all around us.
416
00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:40,360
What you see up there
is what we call a colony,
417
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:43,480
but it's actually a small village
418
00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:46,240
that was built recently.
419
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,040
After confiscating our lands,
420
00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,800
they built a lot of villages like that
421
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:54,800
all around the Palestinian villages,
422
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:58,160
on top of the mountains.
Always on top...
423
00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:04,440
The highest land belongs
to small new Israeli villages.
424
00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:37,840
What are you looking for?
425
00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:43,160
A letter I wrote to my parents
to explain why I left the country.
426
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:45,120
These are my letters.
427
00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:48,160
You wrote to say why you left?
428
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:52,360
The first time, yes.
Then I kept on writing from abroad.
429
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:57,400
Do you remember
what you wrote in that letter?
430
00:39:57,520 --> 00:39:59,560
About why you left this place?
431
00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:04,320
Not really.
That's why I'm looking for it.
432
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:08,840
I think I told them,
"I'm suffocating, I can't live here.
433
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:14,600
I need to breathe,
I need to find myself."
434
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:18,280
Arabic calligraphy.
435
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,280
I thought my dad
liked Arabic calligraphy.
436
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:23,280
You're not sure?
437
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:24,560
No idea.
438
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:27,560
What's this?
439
00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:34,200
- What is it?
- A letter...
440
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:37,360
What is it?
441
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,600
A letter from Michael's father
to my parents.
442
00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:44,280
Michael, my first husband,
the English guy.
443
00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:46,880
What does it say?
444
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:49,840
"Dear Mum and Dad,
I have arrived safely.''
445
00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:53,400
''I'm staying with Michael's parents''
446
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:56,160
''while he's in London looking for work.''
447
00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:00,600
''He hasn't had any positive responses yet''
448
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:02,440
''concerning a job."
449
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:05,880
You were very young.
You had just married him, right?
450
00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:08,640
I was 23. No, 24.
451
00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:11,800
That's funny.
452
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:17,080
How are you feeling?
453
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:22,080
I'm happy to be with my family but...
454
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:30,720
I think I need to mourn,
455
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:34,240
but I don't know how to do that.
456
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:40,280
I don't know how to grieve for a mother.
457
00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:47,440
I think we know
how to become mothers,
458
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:53,000
but never know
how to separate from a mother.
459
00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:31,680
I often look at the photo
of my young mother.
460
00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,480
I look in vain, in her eyes,
461
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,480
for the girl she once was.
462
00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:41,280
She wasn't like me at that age.
463
00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:43,440
She didn't have curly hair.
464
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:47,120
She had straight black hair,
465
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:50,200
with an ardent gaze,
focused on the distance.
466
00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:53,480
As if she were already far away.
467
00:42:57,480 --> 00:43:01,840
My mother was born at a time
when the word Palestine was banned.
468
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:07,200
Deir Hanna, her village in Galilee,
was under Israeli army control.
469
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:12,640
There were no theatres or cinemas.
470
00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:19,320
She told me
she would get up at night
471
00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:20,840
to write as an escape.
472
00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:23,000
As her brothers and sisters slept,
473
00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:26,560
lit by a small lamp,
she would write in her notebooks
474
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:30,280
her secrets and her wildest dreams.
475
00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:34,360
When she was 14, she wrote,
476
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:38,760
I look around me at my mother,
father, sisters and brothers.
477
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:42,440
Why do I feel so lonely?
478
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:50,560
Maybe one day
I'll be able to cross the border.
479
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:53,080
That's what I hope for.
480
00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:02,360
We used to live on that street.
481
00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:06,000
On the left.
482
00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:08,720
- Where's your school?
- It's further up.
483
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:10,200
Nearly there.
484
00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:12,320
- Did you go on foot?
- By bus.
485
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:17,560
We used to walk back
as it was downhill.
486
00:44:17,720 --> 00:44:20,240
- Bus number 12.
- Walking up was tough.
487
00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:24,920
There weren't so many buildings.
None of this was there.
488
00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:27,760
There were just those three!
489
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:31,520
- We should have gone that way.
- No, this is good.
490
00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:39,560
Mum, how long did you study
photography here in Haifa?
491
00:44:39,720 --> 00:44:41,160
- Three years.
- Four.
492
00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:43,360
- You, three?
- Yes.
493
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:46,800
It's like going back to school.
494
00:44:53,280 --> 00:44:54,840
It's been so long.
495
00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:57,680
The entrance hasn't changed.
496
00:44:57,840 --> 00:44:59,520
The building is the same.
497
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:04,480
My classes were upstairs.
498
00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:06,920
Mine on the middle floor.
499
00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:11,120
Hear the planes? It's non-stop.
500
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:15,640
Let's go! Action.
501
00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:18,080
Are you ready?
502
00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:22,800
Hello.
503
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:24,920
- How are you?
- Welcome.
504
00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:27,640
Do you know anything
about photography?
505
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:29,840
- No.
- No?
506
00:45:30,040 --> 00:45:32,760
My dad had a camera.
507
00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:36,880
I would take photos
when we went on school trips.
508
00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:38,760
But I don't know photography.
509
00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:43,760
How will you study photography
if you know nothing about it?
510
00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:48,000
If I get in,
I'll learn about it by studying.
511
00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:51,800
You have to accept me at the school.
512
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:54,480
Because, between you and me...
513
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:57,880
- Wait a second.
- Please, let me explain.
514
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:01,040
My parents want me to study
law or medicine
515
00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:02,720
because I'm good at school.
516
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:06,040
But I don't want to be
a lawyer or a doctor.
517
00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:10,840
Studying law or medicine
would be like dying for me.
518
00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:12,560
I don't want that life.
519
00:46:12,720 --> 00:46:18,560
If I study photography,
I could find something that I like.
520
00:46:18,720 --> 00:46:20,480
Please!
521
00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:23,120
Don't worry, kid.
522
00:46:23,280 --> 00:46:25,880
We'll gladly accept you here.
523
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:28,160
We'll be proud of you and your sister.
524
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:31,760
If I could, I'd kiss you.
525
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:33,800
I don't mind if you do.
526
00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:37,760
- Welcome, kid.
- Thank you.
527
00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:40,520
You see, I've always liked acting too,
528
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:45,160
but you got ahead of me
and didn't give me a chance.
529
00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:46,480
- Me?
- Yes.
530
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:48,880
Was I so unfair to you, Diana?
531
00:46:49,080 --> 00:46:52,720
You went to Hollywood alone.
You could have taken me with you.
532
00:47:17,240 --> 00:47:18,240
Hello.
533
00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:20,200
Hello, Lina!
534
00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:22,080
- Sweetheart!
- It's been ages!
535
00:47:22,240 --> 00:47:24,720
Where were you hiding?
536
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:27,640
Where have you come from, dear?
537
00:47:28,360 --> 00:47:32,120
Did you talk about love together
when you were younger?
538
00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:34,640
Love for men
or our love for each other?
539
00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:37,360
Love for men!
540
00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:40,520
Love for young men?
541
00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:42,840
Unless you prefer women
542
00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:45,440
and never told us!
543
00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:47,920
Your mother loved the most!
544
00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:49,480
The question isn't clear.
545
00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:51,080
Why me?
546
00:47:51,240 --> 00:47:53,640
- Count!
- I have to count?
547
00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:57,400
- Your mum was a Don Juan!
- She loved the most.
548
00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:00,560
- Your mother!
- A different guy every day!
549
00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:01,720
- Really?
- Yes.
550
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:04,600
Did I ever tell you
about when I told Dad
551
00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:06,880
about my first boyfriend?
552
00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:10,240
I came home.
I remember I was on the balcony.
553
00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:14,120
Each time I needed to speak to Dad,
I did it on the balcony.
554
00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:16,120
While he stared at the view.
555
00:48:16,280 --> 00:48:21,120
I told him, "Dad, I have to tell you
before you hear it from others.
556
00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:24,400
I'm in love with a man.
He's from the village.
557
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:29,600
We're in a relationship."
558
00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:32,320
He asked, "What do you mean?"
559
00:48:32,480 --> 00:48:33,920
I replied,
560
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:39,080
"I see him, I sleep at his place,
we go out for dinner..."
561
00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:40,560
I swear.
562
00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:43,520
He gave me a dark look,
then asked,
563
00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:47,520
"Should I meet his father
to get you engaged?"
564
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:51,040
You can't ask
for a more tolerant father!
565
00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:56,080
You know what my attitude was like
at the time.
566
00:48:56,240 --> 00:48:58,840
I told him, "There's no need.''
567
00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:02,320
''We don't plan
to get engaged or married."
568
00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:04,560
"We just want to date!"
569
00:49:05,800 --> 00:49:07,440
They just wanted to date!
570
00:49:07,560 --> 00:49:10,720
He looked at me and said,
"Get out of my sight!''
571
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:12,560
''Forget about Haifa.''
572
00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:18,040
''Forget about your studies.
You stay at home to help your mother!"
573
00:49:18,200 --> 00:49:20,800
I remember that!
574
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:23,880
He forbade you to go back to Haifa.
575
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:29,040
And all the sisters who came after you
had to stay home too.
576
00:49:29,560 --> 00:49:32,360
We all paid for your misdeeds!
577
00:49:59,560 --> 00:50:03,440
I found a Super 8 film
of my Aunt Buthayna's wedding.
578
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:13,680
All the family weddings
were held in the village.
579
00:50:20,280 --> 00:50:22,800
In these images, my mother was 21.
580
00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:26,400
She photographed the bride and groom.
581
00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:33,440
She was Deir Hanna's
official wedding photographer.
582
00:50:41,160 --> 00:50:43,400
We see her dancing with her sisters.
583
00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:45,600
They look so happy.
584
00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:55,320
It was two years before she left.
585
00:50:57,240 --> 00:50:59,760
At the time,
my mother lived in Jerusalem.
586
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:04,320
She was acting in secret
with the Hakawati Theatre.
587
00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:13,800
Her four older sisters were all married.
588
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:15,880
So it was the turn of Hiam,
589
00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:17,480
the fifth daughter.
590
00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:23,280
I couldn't find videos of her wedding.
591
00:51:26,480 --> 00:51:29,240
Her father refused to hold it
in the village.
592
00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:40,280
My homeland, my homeland!
593
00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:44,920
To you, my love and my heart!
594
00:51:45,480 --> 00:51:48,920
My homeland, my homeland!
595
00:51:55,160 --> 00:51:58,880
I'd never seen my grandfather
dancing and smiling before.
596
00:52:02,320 --> 00:52:05,800
Every village wedding
ended with patriotic songs.
597
00:52:11,120 --> 00:52:14,040
My Aunt Buthayna's husband
is very patriotic.
598
00:52:15,640 --> 00:52:18,200
His family were also refugees
in Deir Hanna.
599
00:52:20,440 --> 00:52:23,080
They came from a village called Chajara,
600
00:52:23,240 --> 00:52:26,040
from which they were driven out in 1948.
601
00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:32,720
Chajara was located 14 km from Tiberias.
602
00:52:35,640 --> 00:52:37,800
The village is now destroyed.
603
00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:54,240
What's that there?
604
00:54:54,680 --> 00:54:57,920
- That's Solomon's cave.
- And above it?
605
00:54:58,120 --> 00:55:02,200
Those are the walls of Jerusalem.
You can walk along them.
606
00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:06,800
Look, the walls start over there.
607
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:09,600
- You never went?
- Up there? No.
608
00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:11,080
Did you?
609
00:55:11,200 --> 00:55:13,920
No, but those who have gone say that...
610
00:55:14,120 --> 00:55:15,920
- It's really special.
- Yes.
611
00:55:16,840 --> 00:55:18,400
It's very beautiful.
612
00:55:19,200 --> 00:55:22,000
I'll take you for your 70th birthday.
613
00:55:26,160 --> 00:55:27,600
Hello.
614
00:55:27,760 --> 00:55:30,440
- Welcome.
- How are you?
615
00:55:31,160 --> 00:55:34,160
- I know this man.
- It's Amer.
616
00:55:37,400 --> 00:55:39,040
What's new?
617
00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:41,080
This is my sister, Buthayna.
618
00:55:41,240 --> 00:55:42,760
Do you remember her?
619
00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:46,280
- I used to live in Jerusalem.
- In Cheikh Jarrah.
620
00:55:46,440 --> 00:55:48,320
Do you remember Amer?
621
00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:50,760
- A little.
- We were younger.
622
00:55:50,920 --> 00:55:52,840
Much younger!
623
00:55:53,040 --> 00:55:55,480
- How are you?
- I'm well, and you?
624
00:55:56,520 --> 00:55:58,520
The old days.
625
00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:03,920
Souvenirs of the Hakawati Theatre.
Hiam got married here in the theatre.
626
00:56:04,120 --> 00:56:05,280
On the earth floor.
627
00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:09,280
I wore the costumes
628
00:56:09,440 --> 00:56:14,920
from Jackie's play.
I had a big hat.
629
00:56:15,120 --> 00:56:18,240
We didn't have the wooden floor yet.
630
00:56:20,840 --> 00:56:23,560
Can you show me
how you told your dad?
631
00:56:24,160 --> 00:56:25,200
Yes.
632
00:56:25,360 --> 00:56:29,000
Amer, can you join my mother
on stage?
633
00:56:29,160 --> 00:56:30,720
It's your turn, Amer.
634
00:56:30,880 --> 00:56:32,600
Why not?
635
00:56:33,640 --> 00:56:38,560
I love someone. He's English.
636
00:56:39,120 --> 00:56:43,000
But he converted to Islam
and I want to share my life with him.
637
00:56:43,160 --> 00:56:45,320
I want to marry him,
with your agreement.
638
00:56:45,480 --> 00:56:49,000
I could have married him
in secret abroad.
639
00:56:49,160 --> 00:56:52,520
But as I love and respect you,
640
00:56:52,680 --> 00:56:57,160
I want to do it here at home,
with your blessing.
641
00:57:17,320 --> 00:57:19,480
Turn slightly to the camera.
642
00:57:32,480 --> 00:57:34,080
So what did you do?
643
00:57:36,600 --> 00:57:38,680
What are you after, Lina?
644
00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:46,360
It was very hard for me.
645
00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:51,200
I waited for him to come back.
I was worried about him.
646
00:57:51,600 --> 00:57:55,560
My mother got angry and said,
"You'll kill your father!"
647
00:57:58,280 --> 00:58:01,480
At the time, I was convinced
648
00:58:02,840 --> 00:58:05,000
I wasn't doing anything wrong.
649
00:58:05,160 --> 00:58:07,160
When my dad came back,
650
00:58:08,080 --> 00:58:12,480
I apologized, but I told him,
651
00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:17,680
"Sorry, but I'll marry this man,
652
00:58:17,840 --> 00:58:20,600
even if it takes me five years,
653
00:58:20,760 --> 00:58:23,840
I'll marry him,
and with your blessing."
654
00:58:25,280 --> 00:58:28,320
He remained furious. And I left.
655
00:58:28,840 --> 00:58:33,000
I stayed one night in the village
and went back to Jerusalem.
656
00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:35,920
What happened after that?
657
00:58:38,200 --> 00:58:41,800
I tried to think of other ways
to convince my father.
658
00:58:42,240 --> 00:58:46,320
I thought of someone
my father knew and respected,
659
00:58:46,640 --> 00:58:50,560
a professor at Bir Zeit University
660
00:58:50,720 --> 00:58:54,120
where Michael also taught.
661
00:58:54,280 --> 00:58:58,520
Michael and I went to his place
in Ramallah.
662
00:58:58,680 --> 00:59:00,400
Come on, Buthayna.
663
00:59:02,920 --> 00:59:04,880
The role of the professor.
664
00:59:05,080 --> 00:59:07,040
Professor Sharif. Hello.
665
00:59:07,200 --> 00:59:08,840
Hello, dear.
666
00:59:09,040 --> 00:59:11,400
He called me Hiam, not dear!
667
00:59:13,480 --> 00:59:16,080
Start again.
668
00:59:16,240 --> 00:59:17,880
Go back and do it again!
669
00:59:23,080 --> 00:59:27,920
And when he finally said yes,
how did you feel?
670
00:59:28,120 --> 00:59:32,440
He didn't say yes to me.
He said yes to Professor Sharif.
671
00:59:32,560 --> 00:59:34,440
And Professor Sharif told me.
672
00:59:34,560 --> 00:59:37,480
And my father said to my mother,
673
00:59:37,640 --> 00:59:42,120
"Tell her to come and sign
the marriage papers."
674
00:59:42,720 --> 00:59:45,640
What happened when you and Michael
got divorced?
675
00:59:46,040 --> 00:59:49,400
I was in London. I called my mother.
676
00:59:49,520 --> 00:59:54,440
I told her I wanted to leave Michael
because we didn't get along.
677
00:59:55,560 --> 00:59:57,400
She remained silent.
678
00:59:58,720 --> 01:00:00,160
I told her,
679
01:00:00,320 --> 01:00:02,320
to make her feel better,
680
01:00:02,480 --> 01:00:06,800
"Don't worry about me, Mum, I'm fine
681
01:00:07,280 --> 01:00:10,760
and, hopefully,
next time I'll bring you a Muslim."
682
01:00:11,520 --> 01:00:12,720
Who?
683
01:00:12,880 --> 01:00:14,440
Who? Your father!
684
01:00:15,080 --> 01:00:17,000
She divorced him too.
685
01:00:18,160 --> 01:00:20,240
And they say things come in threes.
686
01:00:34,880 --> 01:00:37,520
I'd have loved to find images
of your wedding.
687
01:00:37,680 --> 01:00:40,440
What are you saying? What for?
688
01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:45,880
I got married, true,
but only to be able to live with a man.
689
01:00:46,080 --> 01:00:48,000
It was the only way here.
690
01:00:48,520 --> 01:00:51,080
If I'd had a choice,
I'd never have done it.
691
01:01:08,160 --> 01:01:11,280
I'd never noticed your discomfort
in these images.
692
01:01:11,440 --> 01:01:12,760
I was suffocating.
693
01:01:14,800 --> 01:01:16,480
Everything suffocated me.
694
01:01:17,080 --> 01:01:19,800
Even the people I loved
suffocated me.
695
01:01:34,880 --> 01:01:37,000
Did you talk to your sisters about it?
696
01:01:37,160 --> 01:01:42,200
I don't feel my sisters and I
ever talked about my life choices.
697
01:01:43,040 --> 01:01:45,640
You never spoke about your work
as an actress?
698
01:01:46,160 --> 01:01:49,120
Only as a joke, to make fun.
699
01:01:49,280 --> 01:01:52,400
Or to ask me, "Why did you do that?"
700
01:01:54,040 --> 01:01:56,600
Did your mother see the movies
you were in?
701
01:01:56,760 --> 01:01:58,720
I think she only saw one.
702
01:02:01,480 --> 01:02:03,760
She didn't like me being an actress.
703
01:02:03,920 --> 01:02:06,840
She'd say,
"You prefer your work to me."
704
01:02:15,920 --> 01:02:19,360
I wonder who you would have become
if you'd stayed.
705
01:02:19,720 --> 01:02:22,440
How could I know, Lina? I left.
706
01:02:30,200 --> 01:02:32,480
Can I ask you one last question?
707
01:02:32,600 --> 01:02:33,640
Yes.
708
01:02:34,600 --> 01:02:39,440
How to be the great-granddaughter
of the family once the mother left?
709
01:02:41,720 --> 01:02:43,320
Can you say that again?
710
01:02:44,720 --> 01:02:46,280
What do you mean?
711
01:03:02,360 --> 01:03:04,520
My mother chose to leave.
712
01:03:05,000 --> 01:03:08,400
I was born of this departure,
of this fracture.
713
01:03:09,080 --> 01:03:10,720
Between two worlds.
714
01:03:14,840 --> 01:03:15,880
She tells me,
715
01:03:16,080 --> 01:03:18,360
"When you fly away, it hurts
716
01:03:18,480 --> 01:03:21,320
those you leave and yourself too.
717
01:03:21,920 --> 01:03:23,760
There is always heartbreak."
718
01:03:27,600 --> 01:03:31,160
I wonder if we can manage
to find ourselves fully
719
01:03:31,320 --> 01:03:33,320
in a world we invented.
720
01:03:37,200 --> 01:03:38,880
I think about Hosnieh,
721
01:03:39,440 --> 01:03:42,360
my mother's aunt, my great-aunt,
722
01:03:43,800 --> 01:03:45,440
who had no choice.
723
01:03:47,080 --> 01:03:48,480
All her life,
724
01:03:48,640 --> 01:03:50,320
she has lived in Syria,
725
01:03:50,760 --> 01:03:54,680
separated from her mother, Um Ali,
and her sister, Nemat.
726
01:03:57,720 --> 01:03:59,760
My mother tells me I met her,
727
01:04:00,480 --> 01:04:02,520
but I've forgotten her face.
728
01:04:05,120 --> 01:04:06,680
The sea is there.
729
01:04:08,360 --> 01:04:09,880
Lebanon is there.
730
01:04:11,400 --> 01:04:13,000
Syria is there.
731
01:04:13,760 --> 01:04:15,400
And Jordan is there.
732
01:04:17,800 --> 01:04:19,800
And here we are, in the middle.
733
01:04:44,240 --> 01:04:46,320
Across these mountains,
734
01:04:46,480 --> 01:04:47,680
in Syria,
735
01:04:47,840 --> 01:04:49,720
Hosnieh is buried,
736
01:04:50,360 --> 01:04:51,720
in Yarmouk,
737
01:04:52,480 --> 01:04:55,520
the world's largest
Palestinian refugee camp.
738
01:04:59,120 --> 01:05:01,640
The camp is now completely destroyed.
739
01:05:08,480 --> 01:05:10,440
In 1948,
740
01:05:10,560 --> 01:05:13,760
Hosnieh ended up on the other side
of the border,
741
01:05:13,920 --> 01:05:15,720
separated from her family.
742
01:05:23,560 --> 01:05:25,920
Like all Palestinian refugees,
743
01:05:26,360 --> 01:05:29,440
she was forbidden to return
to her homeland.
744
01:05:33,680 --> 01:05:35,720
Moved from camp to camp,
745
01:05:36,120 --> 01:05:39,400
she finally settled in Yarmouk,
south of Damascus.
746
01:05:48,120 --> 01:05:50,600
I look for her in this woman's face.
747
01:05:51,160 --> 01:05:54,000
I imagine her, gathering news
748
01:05:54,160 --> 01:05:56,480
of her mother and her sister.
749
01:05:59,080 --> 01:06:02,000
Nothing but hazy bits of information.
750
01:06:05,840 --> 01:06:07,320
As for the rest,
751
01:06:07,480 --> 01:06:09,920
she had to wait, hope
752
01:06:10,400 --> 01:06:12,400
and build herself another life.
753
01:06:44,080 --> 01:06:46,240
30 years after their separation,
754
01:06:46,400 --> 01:06:49,600
one summer night,
Hosnieh managed to cross
755
01:06:49,760 --> 01:06:51,880
the border from Syria to Galilee.
756
01:06:52,360 --> 01:06:53,800
In secret.
757
01:07:01,280 --> 01:07:02,840
At the end of this journey,
758
01:07:03,040 --> 01:07:06,600
she found her mother, Um Ali,
and her sister, Nemat.
759
01:07:09,560 --> 01:07:11,760
They embraced for hours,
760
01:07:12,400 --> 01:07:15,000
their bodies pressed together
like magnets.
761
01:07:15,160 --> 01:07:16,600
After 30 years.
762
01:07:21,000 --> 01:07:23,640
My grandmother told me so much
about this reunion
763
01:07:23,800 --> 01:07:25,680
that I feel its intensity.
764
01:07:30,520 --> 01:07:33,120
My mother was 18
when she met this aunt
765
01:07:33,280 --> 01:07:35,840
who had arrived
from a forbidden land.
766
01:07:39,000 --> 01:07:41,760
This land was the Arab world.
767
01:07:42,520 --> 01:07:44,840
A world that Hiam had never seen.
768
01:07:46,720 --> 01:07:49,000
Hosnieh told her about Damascus,
769
01:07:49,480 --> 01:07:51,360
its smells, its colours,
770
01:07:51,480 --> 01:07:53,560
its cafés, its women.
771
01:07:54,560 --> 01:07:56,840
She gave her a taste of freedom.
772
01:08:01,760 --> 01:08:03,600
Before leaving again,
773
01:08:04,120 --> 01:08:05,720
Hosnieh told Hiam,
774
01:08:06,800 --> 01:08:11,040
"I know one day you will come knocking
on my door in Syria."
775
01:08:16,400 --> 01:08:18,040
Years later,
776
01:08:18,200 --> 01:08:21,160
my mother was able to visit her
in Syria.
777
01:08:22,040 --> 01:08:23,880
She was 43 years old
778
01:08:24,080 --> 01:08:26,280
and had made the trip from Paris.
779
01:08:31,840 --> 01:08:36,080
I didn't think
I could ever set foot there.
780
01:08:36,240 --> 01:08:39,480
I was able to go
thanks to my French passport.
781
01:08:39,640 --> 01:08:40,960
I took a cab.
782
01:08:41,120 --> 01:08:45,440
I explained where my aunt lived
and he drove me there.
783
01:08:45,560 --> 01:08:49,280
We entered through the main entrance
of the Yarmouk camp.
784
01:08:49,440 --> 01:08:51,040
We started asking
785
01:08:51,200 --> 01:08:54,720
where to find Abu Hasan Falafels.
786
01:08:54,880 --> 01:08:56,560
People told me.
787
01:08:56,720 --> 01:08:59,360
I arrived at the falafel place
788
01:08:59,480 --> 01:09:01,880
and, some distance away,
789
01:09:02,080 --> 01:09:06,120
I saw a woman sitting outside her house.
790
01:09:06,280 --> 01:09:09,480
She came towards me as I went over.
791
01:09:09,640 --> 01:09:14,640
At one point, we both stopped
like two bodies
792
01:09:14,800 --> 01:09:16,640
who didn't know what to do.
793
01:09:16,800 --> 01:09:19,000
We looked at each other.
794
01:09:19,160 --> 01:09:21,680
And we ran towards each other.
795
01:09:21,840 --> 01:09:24,360
She pressed against me and went...
796
01:09:25,720 --> 01:09:29,840
"The scent of the family!"
We were both crying our eyes out.
797
01:09:31,360 --> 01:09:34,280
We were like two magnets.
798
01:09:34,600 --> 01:09:36,920
What did she say when she saw you?
799
01:09:38,720 --> 01:09:41,880
She started smelling me all over,
saying,
800
01:09:42,080 --> 01:09:45,120
"Let me smell the scent of my mother,
of my father,
801
01:09:45,280 --> 01:09:47,720
of my brother, of my darlings."
802
01:09:47,880 --> 01:09:52,040
She repeated the names
of everyone in the family.
803
01:09:52,200 --> 01:09:56,480
Each of her kisses on my body
was for someone in the family.
804
01:09:56,600 --> 01:09:59,080
We didn't want to let go
of each other.
805
01:09:59,240 --> 01:10:04,400
We stayed clinging to each other,
with everyone staring at us.
806
01:10:05,600 --> 01:10:09,480
She told them,
"This is my niece from Palestine!
807
01:10:09,600 --> 01:10:14,440
She brings the scent of my family.
She has brought Palestine here!"
808
01:10:15,520 --> 01:10:17,560
That moment was
809
01:10:18,040 --> 01:10:22,240
very intense emotionally,
both for her and for me.
810
01:10:23,480 --> 01:10:26,480
How did it feel
going to an Arab country?
811
01:10:26,760 --> 01:10:29,440
I felt I had won a battle.
812
01:10:29,560 --> 01:10:32,720
Crossing the border to go to Syria,
813
01:10:32,880 --> 01:10:36,760
when that was forbidden,
was a victory for me.
814
01:10:36,920 --> 01:10:40,000
It was a victory
over their interdictions.
815
01:10:40,160 --> 01:10:43,800
It shattered the border
that Israel imposed
816
01:10:44,000 --> 01:10:46,880
on Palestinians from the same family.
817
01:10:47,360 --> 01:10:50,720
It was like saying, "I did it!"
818
01:10:51,680 --> 01:10:53,040
Deep down inside.
819
01:11:14,760 --> 01:11:16,680
It's a world war.
820
01:11:19,880 --> 01:11:22,240
We're still like kids.
821
01:11:24,040 --> 01:11:27,200
Clean up, Hiam!
What's this sloppy work?
822
01:11:29,600 --> 01:11:32,160
- Did your parents talk like that?
- Yes.
823
01:11:32,320 --> 01:11:35,120
Too bad if we weren't happy about it.
824
01:11:37,480 --> 01:11:39,440
I'll do your room now, Lina.
825
01:11:47,480 --> 01:11:48,760
Hello.
826
01:11:52,640 --> 01:11:53,840
How are you?
827
01:12:02,000 --> 01:12:05,560
It's years since we were
all together in this house.
828
01:12:37,840 --> 01:12:39,480
You found the letters?
829
01:12:41,080 --> 01:12:42,280
Zahera!
830
01:12:47,240 --> 01:12:48,640
Let's sing for Zahera!
831
01:12:54,680 --> 01:13:00,800
Mother, prepare the finery
for the bride to be
832
01:13:01,720 --> 01:13:07,520
She left the house
without saying goodbye to her sisters
833
01:13:09,480 --> 01:13:11,480
That's not Mum.
834
01:13:11,640 --> 01:13:13,160
It is Mum!
835
01:13:13,320 --> 01:13:15,920
Look how huge she was.
836
01:13:16,120 --> 01:13:17,480
Look, it's Naief.
837
01:13:17,640 --> 01:13:19,080
What are you doing, Lina?
838
01:13:19,240 --> 01:13:23,600
Each choose a photo of yourself
and one of Tiberias to put on the wall.
839
01:13:24,040 --> 01:13:26,920
- Where do you put them?
- On the wall.
840
01:13:36,400 --> 01:13:39,240
Our grandmother lived here
in Tiberias,
841
01:13:40,040 --> 01:13:41,800
near the mosque.
842
01:13:42,000 --> 01:13:43,480
Nothing's left now.
843
01:13:43,600 --> 01:13:46,720
She said their house
was near the mosque.
844
01:13:47,520 --> 01:13:48,840
Where is it?
845
01:13:49,040 --> 01:13:51,680
It was right next
to the mosque.
846
01:13:52,240 --> 01:13:54,360
Do we put up our grandparents?
847
01:14:23,160 --> 01:14:25,320
Climb on the train!
848
01:14:27,000 --> 01:14:29,000
1, 2, 3, 4, 5...
849
01:14:30,920 --> 01:14:32,080
Get in!
850
01:14:32,680 --> 01:14:35,840
All stand in profile.
851
01:14:36,040 --> 01:14:39,120
Stand in profile and look at the camera.
852
01:14:42,760 --> 01:14:44,360
Can you see me?
853
01:14:56,400 --> 01:14:58,520
The train toppled over!
854
01:14:58,680 --> 01:15:00,800
Stand up straight, come on!
855
01:15:02,840 --> 01:15:05,240
I can't go on. I'm suffocating!
856
01:15:06,520 --> 01:15:08,120
Only the women!
857
01:15:26,160 --> 01:15:27,800
Behind our smiles,
858
01:15:28,880 --> 01:15:31,360
I know the fear
that sleeps within us.
859
01:15:34,240 --> 01:15:37,680
What if the remains of this place
were to disappear?
860
01:15:39,800 --> 01:15:41,920
I was born far from this lake,
861
01:15:43,160 --> 01:15:45,000
yet I feel so close to it.
862
01:16:20,840 --> 01:16:22,560
What are you thinking about?
863
01:16:23,480 --> 01:16:25,720
- What?
- What are you thinking about?
864
01:16:26,920 --> 01:16:29,440
I'm thinking about this whole story.
865
01:16:39,120 --> 01:16:42,800
I'm trying to imagine
how my grandparents,
866
01:16:43,000 --> 01:16:47,360
my Grandma Um Ali
and your Grandma Nemat, as a young girl,
867
01:16:47,480 --> 01:16:50,800
walked all the way from Tiberias,
868
01:16:51,000 --> 01:16:53,360
like that,
869
01:16:53,480 --> 01:16:56,200
then up over those mountains,
870
01:16:56,720 --> 01:16:59,120
because Lebanon is over there, Lina.
871
01:17:00,240 --> 01:17:02,440
They reached the very top.
872
01:17:02,560 --> 01:17:04,480
All that way on foot.
873
01:17:05,800 --> 01:17:08,000
And Syria is over there.
874
01:17:09,520 --> 01:17:12,120
My Aunt Hosnieh was there.
875
01:17:30,720 --> 01:17:33,040
And you left for France.
876
01:17:33,200 --> 01:17:34,880
And I left for France.
877
01:17:36,360 --> 01:17:38,600
And now, you're sitting in Tiberias.
878
01:17:40,800 --> 01:17:45,360
I'm sitting right where we came
when you were young, remember?
879
01:17:45,480 --> 01:17:48,480
We'd come to swim here too
when we were little.