
“Archives: Reactivating Buried Memories”
Lina Soualem, filmmaker and actress.
At Université Paris 8, Room C022 (Building C, first floor).
Lina Soualem will present her two documentary films, Their Algeria (2021) and Bye Bye Tiberias (2023). After screening excerpts from these films, we will engage in a discussion around the themes that run through her work, such as the use of archives in documentary practice, the relationship between personal history and collective history, silence and speech, and the interweaving of family, historical, and colonial archives.
Lina Soualem
Lina Soualem is a filmmaker and actress, born in Paris to an Algerian father and a Palestinian mother. After studying history and political science at the Sorbonne University, Lina worked as a programmer for the International Human Rights Film Festival of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her first feature-length documentary, Their Algeria, premiered worldwide at Visions du Réel in 2020 and was released in French theaters in October 2021 (JHR Films). The film received around ten awards, including the Best First Feature Award at the CINEMED Festival and the Best Documentary Award at the CINEMANIA Festival.
Lina has acted in three feature films directed by Hafsia Herzi, Hiam Abbass, and Rayhana. Her second feature-length documentary, Bye Bye Tiberias, had its world premiere in 2023 at the Venice International Film Festival and was also selected for the Toronto International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival, among others. Bye Bye Tiberias was nominated to represent Palestine at the 2024 Academy Awards.
Lina is now working as a writer on fiction, documentary, and series projects. She also contributed to the writing of the series Oussekine, directed by Antoine Chevrollier.
