| Divine Intervention | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Elia Suleiman |
| Produced by | Humbert Balsan Elia Suleiman |
| Written by | Elia Suleiman |
| Starring | Elia Suleiman Manal Khader |
| Distributed by | Avatar Films (USA) |
| Release date(s) | May 19, 2002 |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | France Morocco Germany Palestinian territories (not sovereign) |
| Language | Arabic, Hebrew |
Divine Intervention (Arabic: يد إلهية) is a 2002 film by the Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, which may be described as a surreal black comedy. The film consists largely of a series of brief interconnected sketches, but for the most part records a day in the life of a Palestinian living in Nazareth, whose girlfriend lives several checkpoints away in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
One lyrical section features a beautiful sunglasses-clad Palestinian woman (played by Manal Khader) whose passing by not only distracts all eyes, but whose gaze causes Israeli military checkpoint towers to crumble. The director features prominently as the film's silent, expressionless protagonist in an iconic and powerfully moving performance has been compared to the work of Buster Keaton, Jim Jarmusch and Jacques Tati.[1][2]
Contents |
In Nazareth, Santa Claus runs away from children as gifts fall from his basket. He's been stabbed and leans against a tree.
Neighbors bicker over small stuff.
A Palestinian couple meets in a car.
More bickering neighbors.
A tourist asks an Israeli policeman for directions. Unable to help her himself, the policeman brings out a blindfolded Palestinian prisoner from the back of his van. The Palestinian tells her three different possible routes.
The couple is in the car again. The man blows up a red Yasser Arafat balloon and releases it near an Israeli checkpoint. An Israeli soldier is about to shoot it down but his comrade stops him. In the confusion, the couple are able to drive through the checkpoint together. The balloon floats across Jerusalem, eventually settling against the Dome of the Rock.
At night, the couple again in a car.
The next morning, five Israeli men practice a dance choreography in which they shoot at targets painted with a Palestinian woman. Then, a real female Palestinian ninja like the one on the targets and gets shot at by the men. She gathers all the bullets and returns them. Then a helicopter shows up and she takes it down. The dance choreographer watches helplessly.
A man and his mother watch their dinner cook in a pressure cooker.
Despite being nominated for the "Palme d'Or" award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, the film's consideration as candidate for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards was an occasion for considerable controversy. In late 2002, producer Humbert Balsan authorized the US distributor of the film to release a statement which stated that Balsan had asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences if the film could run for best foreign language picture. According to Balsan, the answer was no, because "Palestine is not a state we recognize in our rules." However, spokesperson John Pavlik states that the Academy had never made a decision on that issue because Suleiman had never submitted his film. Critics like The Electronic Intifada and others, claim that the Academy did make a decision, and that it was based on political considerations.[3]
The film was considered for an Oscar the following year; Pavlik told Variety "The committee decided to treat Palestine as an exception in the same way we treat Hong Kong as an exception. It's always the goal of the foreign-language film award executive committee to be as inclusive as possible."[4]
| Divine intervention | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | September 30, 2002 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Length | 52:27 |
| Label | Milan Music |
Elia Suleiman has used entirely non-original music of various genres and artists in the film. These include artists such as the Belgian singer Natacha Atlas, Indian composer A.R. Rahman, Lebanese electro-pop band Soapkills and Paris-based record producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï.
Track listing:
The film screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival on May 12,[5] was awarded the Jury Prize[6] and the FIPRESCI Prize for "its sensitive, amusing and innovative vision of a complex and topical situation and the tragic consequences that result from it".[7]
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Blackboards tied with Songs from the Second Floor (2000) no award 2001 |
Jury Prize, Cannes 2002 |
Succeeded by At Five in the Afternoon |
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