E. S. 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 E. S. asks the fundamental question: where is the place we can truly call home?

“If my previous films tried to present Palestine as a microcosm of the world; my new film tries to show the world as if it were a microcosm of Palestine. (…) Rather than focus on the ‘larger’ picture constantly bombarded by the mass media, always generalized, masked and falsified, IT MUST BE HEAVEN depicts the moment in the margin, the trivial, or that which is usually out of focus. It’s the personal and human stories that are based on identification which raise questions and raise hope.”

More information: http://www.pallasfilm.de/movies/it-must-be-heaven/

Born in Nazareth/Palestine in 1960, Elia Suleiman lived in New York from 1981 to 1993. During this time, he directed his two first short films. 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 Award for Best First Film at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. His later movies were also awarded several times, among others with the Jury Prize in Cannes.

Filmography (selection): 1991 INTRODUCTION TO THE END OF AN ARGUMENT (short film), 1996 CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE, 2002 DIVINE INTERVENTION, 2009 THE TIME THAT REMAINS, 2019 IT MUST BE HEAVEN

Awards: Special Mention of an independent critics’ jury and FIPRESCI Award Competition (Cannes Film Festival, France 2019)