Divine Intervention (Yadon Ilaheyya)
DFI Cinema
Elia Suleiman / Feature Narrative / France, Palestine / 2002 / Colour
In Arabic, Hebrew / Arabic, English subtitles
Interests: Drama, Romance, War
Rated: Parental guidance advised for viewers under the age of 15. Individuals under the age of 15 are not admitted into cinemas unless accompanied by an individual aged 18 or over.
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Synopsis
In Nazareth, under the guise of banal normalcy, the town embraces folly. Under pressure due to his failing business, a man takes matters into his own hands and tries to break a chain reaction of petty feuds. He breaks down himself. The man is Elia Suleiman's father. A love story takes place between a Palestinian man living in Jerusalem and a Palestinian woman from Ramallah. The maN—E.S.—shifts between his ailing father and his love life, trying to keep both alive.
Because of the political situation, the woman's freedom of movement ends at the Israeli army checkpoint between the two cities. As they are barred from crossing the border, the lovers' intimate encounters take place on a deserted lot right beside the checkpoint. They are unable to exempt reality from occupation, unable to preserve their intimacy in the face of a siege. A complicity of solemn desire begins to generate violent repercussions, and, against the odds, their angry hearts counterattack with spasms of spectacular fantasy.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.
About the Director
Born in 1960 in Nazareth, Elia Suleiman lived in New York from 1981 to 1993. While in the United States, he directed his first two short films: ‘Introduction to the End of an Argument’ and ‘Homage by Assassination’, winning numerous awards. In 1994, he settled down in Jerusalem, where the European Commission had entrusted him with the mission of creating a Film and Media Department at Birzeit University. His first feature film, ‘Chronicle of a Disappearance’, won the Best First Film Prize at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. In 2002, ‘Divine Intervention’ won the Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize of the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Best Foreign Film Prize at the European Awards in Rome. In 2007, he was chosen as one of the 35 directors of ‘To Each His Own Cinema’, a collective film for the Cannes Film Festival’s 60th anniversary. His feature film ‘The Time That Remains’ was in the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009. In 2012, he completed a short film titled ‘Diary of a Beginner’, part of a collective feature titled ‘7 Days in Havana’. The film was in the official selection of Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. His last feature film, titled ‘It Must Be Heaven’ won the Jury Special Mention at Cannes in 2019 and the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize of the Cannes Film Festival. Elia Suleiman participated in numerous festivals as a jury member, including the Cannes Film Festival (2006) and Venice Film Festival. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, among which is the Prince Claus Award in 2008; named “Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the Ministry of Culture in 2020. He received The European Achievement in World Cinema in 2022 and an Honorary Doctorate from UCLouvain, Belgium, in February 2023. Elia Suleiman is currently serving as an Artistic Advisor for the Doha Film Institute.
Credits
- Director
- Elia Suleiman
- Screenwriter
- Elia Suleiman
- Producer
- Humbert Balsan
- Cinematographer
- Marc-André Batigne
- Editor
- Véronique Lange
- Production Company
- OGNON PICTURES
- Sales Company
- Pyramide Films
- Cast
- Elia Suleiman, Manal Khader, Nayef Fahoum Daher