ES 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 ES asks the fundamental question: where is the place we can truly call home?
STARRING
Elia SULEIMAN
Tarik KOPTI
Kareem GHNEIM
George KHLEIFI
Ali SULIMAN
Fares MUQABAA
Yasmine HAJ
Nael KANJ
Asmaa AZAIZY
Grégoire COLIN
Vincent MARAVAL
Claire DUMAS
Antoine CHOLET
Eric CORNET
Yumi NARITA
Kengo SAITO
Stephen McHATTIE
Raïa HAÏDAR
Fadi SAKR
Kwasi SONGUI
Guy SPRUNG
Nancy GRANT
Alain DAHAN
Gael GARCÍA BERNAL
DIRECTOR
Elia SULEIMAN
WRITER
Elia SULEIMAN
D.O.P
Sofian EL FANI
SOUND
Johannes DOBERENZ
Gwennolé LE BORGNE
Olivier TOUCHE
Laure Anne DARRAS
Lars GINZEL
FILM EDITING
Véronique LANGE
DISTRIBUTION
O’Brother
SALES
Wild Bunch
Elia Suleiman
Born in Nazareth on July 28, 1960, Elia Suleiman lived in New York between 1981 and 1993. During this period, he directed his two first short films, Introduction to the End of an Argument and Homage by Assassination, which won him numerous prizes. In 1994, he moved to Jerusalem where the European Commission charged him with establishing a Cinema 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. In 2012, Elia Suleiman directed the short film Diary of a Beginner, part of the portmanteau feature 7 Days in Havana, which screened that year in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival.
FILMOGRAPHY
1991 INTRODUCTION TO THE END OF AN ARGUMENT 45’
Best Experimental Documentary – USA 1992
1992 HOMAGE BY ASSASSINATION28’
Rockefeller Award – USA 1993
1996 CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE 84’
Best First Film Prize – Venice 1996
1998 THE ARAB DREAM 30’
Order for Arte Télévision, for the end of the Millenium 2000
2000 CYBER PALESTINE 16’
Directors’ Fortnight – Cannes 2001
2002 DIVINE INTERVENTION 92’
Jury Prize – Cannes 2002
2007 CHACUN SON CINÉMA – segment « Irtebak » 3’
Short film for the 60th anniversary of the Festival de Cannes
2009 THE TIME THAT REMAINS 105’
Official Selection – In Competition – Cannes 2009
2012 7 DAYS IN HAVANAE –segment «Diary of a Beginner » 17’
Official Selection – Un Certain Regard – Cannes 2012