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The Arab American National Museum, Arab Film and Media Institute, and ArteEast, in partnership with Doha Film Institute, are pleased to celebrate and showcase the work of famed Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman. Throughout his career, Elia directed four feature films -Chronicle Of A Disappearance (1996), Divine Intervention (2002), The Time That Remains (2008), It Must Be Heaven (2019) - all of which we are pleased to have available for our audiences! The films are Video-On-Demand style, so guests can view these films at their leisure and on their own time.


To make this experience complete, we are pleased to host a live, virtual talkback with Elia Suleiman on May 23rd at 3 pm EST, moderated by AFMI's Yasmina Tawil.


Films made available for individual viewing from 12 a.m. EDT Friday, May 21, 2021, to 11:59 p.m. EDT Sunday, May 30, 2021.


Please note: These films are accessible to viewers located in the United States of America, Canada and Palestine.





Filmmaker's Bio:


Born in Nazareth in 1960, Palestinian filmmaker and Doha Film Institute’s Artistic Advisor, Elia Suleiman directed his first two short films while living in New York between 1981-1993. In 1994, Suleiman returned to Jerusalem to create a Film and Media Department at Birzeit University. His feature debut, ‘Chronicle of a Disappearance’, won the Best First Film award at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. In 2002, ‘Divine Intervention won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Best Foreign Film prize at the European Awards in Rome. His feature, ‘The Time That Remains’, screened in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. 

His latest feature “It Must Be Heaven” screened in competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and was the winner of the Jury Special Mention and FIPRESCI Critics’ Award.




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It Must Be Heaven


Synopsis: Elia Suleiman escapes from Palestine seeking an alternative homeland, only to find that Palestine is trailing behind him. The promise of a new life turns into a comedy of errors: however far he travels, from Paris to New York, something always reminds him of home. From award-winning director Elia Suleiman, a comic saga exploring identity, nationality, and belonging, in which Suleiman asks the fundamental question: where is the place we can truly call home?

  • Year
    2019
  • Runtime
    97 minutes
  • Language
    Arabic, English, French
  • Country
    Palestine, State of
  • Rating
    18+
  • Director
    Elia Suleiman
  • Screenwriter
    Elia Suleiman
  • Executive Producer
    Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Hanaa Issa
  • Co-Producer
    Édouard Weil, Laurine Pelassy, Elia Suleiman, Thanassis Karathanos, Martin Hampel, Serge Noel
  • Cast
    Elia Suleiman, Tarik Kopti, Kareem Ghneim, George Khleifi, Ali Suliman, Fares Muqabaa, Yasmine Haj, Nael Kanj, Asmaa Azaizy
  • Cinematographer
    Sofian El Fani
  • Editor
    Véronique Lange
  • Sound Design
    Lars Ginzel