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| It Must Be Heaven |
by New Worker correspondent
The Palestine Film Festival returns to London next month,
after a two year break, with a selection of feature films and shorts that
reflects the culture and politics of a film industry that survives and even
thrives under the oppression of Israeli occupation.
The festival fortnight
kicks off on 15th November at the Barbican with the screening of It Must
Be Heaven – a black comedy about a Palestinian film-maker who goes to the
Europe and America to escape from the reality of his home life only to find
constant reminders of what he left behind. Other screenings at the Barbican
include Stranger at Home – a
classic but rarely seen 1985 documentary about a Palestinian artist’s return to
occupied Jerusalem, and a programme of five sci-fi shorts by well-known
Palestinian directors.
The Palestinian film
festival began in 1998 as a student project at London’s School of Oriental and
African Studies (SOAS). It has since grown to become a major focus for
Palestinian cinema on the London cinema scene. This year’s venues include the
Barbican, Curzon Soho and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).
Directed by Elia
Suleiman, It Must Be Heaven won
critical acclaim at the recent Palestinian Cinema Days festival in Ramallah and
it has now been nominated for the 2020 Oscars.
Suleiman said that he
didn't make the film for the Oscars but to meet a vision he believes in. “I
think I made the film not for the Oscars, I made the film because of the
content of the film and because of the necessity to make this film,” he told
reporters.
An Oscar nomination would
normally require a costly promotion, international distributors and the support
of not just the audience, but cultural organisations and national parties.
Palestinian Minister of
Culture Atef Abu Seif, who was behind the nomination, said that the film would
put Palestine on the world cinema map as one that tackles international affairs,
not just local issues. He said he was proud that Suleiman's film was the debut
of the Ramallah festival, which would encourage the cinema industry in
Palestine.
Palestine
Cinema Days was held in Ramallah in the Palestinian ‘autonomous’ zone in the West
Bank earlier in the month. Festival spokesperson Khalid Badawi said that:
“Despite all the abuses of our rights, we insist on our basic right of access
to culture, production and cinema, and despite the very poor infrastructure
that we face, we insist that we are the best producers, we have our
productions, our film and film-makers that we are proud of. This is the stage,
the event where we present what we produce to the world.”
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