It Must Be Heaven

Dec 4, 2019

1h 43m

★ 6.5

Overview

Filmmaker Elia Suleiman travels to different cities and finds unexpected parallels to his homeland of Palestine.

Genres

Comedy

Drama

Production Companies

Rectangle Productions

Nazira Films

Pallas Film

Zeyno Film

Possibles Média

DFI

ZDF/Arte

TRT

CN3 Productions

It Must Be Heaven Trailers

Cast

E.S.

Elia Suleiman

Mad Man

Ali Suliman

Gael García Bernal

Tarot Reader

Stephen McHattie

New York Taxi Driver

Kwasi Songui

Man in the Metro

Grégoire Colin

Policeman 6

Holden Wong

Immigration Officer

Alain Dahan

Producer in Paris

Vincent Maraval

Policeman #3

Sébastien Beaulac

Priest

Ossama Bawardi

Policeman

François Girard

Yacine is the veterinarian of the only zoo remaining in the Palestinian West Bank. He lives alone with his 10-year old son, Ziad. The kid has a special bond with the two giraffes in the zoo. He seems to be the only one to communicate with them. After an air raid in the region the male giraffe dies. His mate, Rita, won’t survive unless the veterinarian finds her a new companion. The only zoo that might provide this animal is located in Tel Aviv ...

7.7

Waltz with Bashir

Jun 12, 2008

An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.

5.8

Salt of This Sea

Sep 3, 2008

Born in Brooklyn to Palestinian refugee parents, Soraya decides to journey to the country of her ancestry when she discovers that her grandfather's savings have been frozen in a Jaffa bank account since his 1948 exile. However, she soon finds that her simple plan is a complicated undertaking — one that takes her further from her comfort zone than she'd imagined.

5.8

A House in Jerusalem

Jul 13, 2023

Mourning her mother’s death and struggling to adjust to her new life in Israel, a young girl bonds with the lonely spirit of a Palestinian child.

6.0

The Lighthorsemen

Sep 10, 1987

In 1917 when the British forces are bogged down in front of the Turkish and German lines in Palestine they rely on the Australian light horse regiment to break the deadlock.

7.0

Lemon Tree

Feb 8, 2008

Salma Zidane, a widow, lives simply from her grove of lemon trees in the West Bank's occupied territory. The Israeli defence minister and his wife move next door, forcing the Secret Service to order the trees' removal for security. The stoic Salma seeks assistance from the Palestinian Authority, Israeli army, and a young attorney, Ziad Daud, who takes the case. In this allegory, does David stand a chance against Goliath?

7.2

Farha

Sep 14, 2021

Palestine, 1948. After the withdrawal of the British occupiers, tensions rise between Arabs and Jews. Meanwhile, Farha, the smart daughter of the mayor of a small village, unaware of the coming tragedy, dreams of going to study in the big city.

7.2

Wajib

Aug 20, 2017

After years abroad in Italy, Shadi returns to his native Nazareth. But this is no spectacular homecoming. He's back somewhat begrudgingly to honour his "wajib" (or duty) to hand out invitations to his sister's wedding with his father. The simmering tension between the two — who are often stuck in a car, more often than not in traffic — builds, exposing the sometimes-comic chasms that exist between men who live in different worlds but share an unshakable bond.

6.9

Paradise Now

Sep 7, 2005

Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

6.7

200 Meters

Sep 8, 2020

Mustafa and his wife Salwa come from two Palestinian villages that are only 200 meters apart, but separated by the wall. Their unusual living situation is starting to affect their otherwise happy marriage, but the couple does what they can to make it work. Every night, Mustafa flashes a light from his balcony to wish his children on the other side a goodnight, and they signal him back. One day Mustafa gets a call that every parent dreads: his son has been in an accident. He rushes to the checkpoint where he must agonisingly wait in line only to find out there is a problem with his fingerprints and is denied entry. Desperate, Mustafa resorts to hiring a smuggler to bring him across. His once 200-meter journey becomes a 200-kilometer odyssey joined by other travellers determined to cross.

4.0

Justine

Aug 6, 1969

In Alexandria, in 1938, Darley, a young British schoolmaster and poet, makes friends through Pursewarden, the British consular officer, with Justine, the beautiful and mysterious wife of a Coptic banker. He observes the affairs of her heart and incidentally discovers that she is involved in a plot against the British, meant to arm the Jewish underground in Palestine. The plot finally fails, Justine is sent to jail and Darley decides to return to England.

5.0

Children of Rage

May 28, 1975

The viscous conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is now a generation old. For many of the children of the region, the terrorist war has been going on for their entire lifetimes, killing their family and friends, and overshadowing their lives. They are the Children of Rage

7.3

The Present

Feb 2, 2020

On his wedding anniversary, Yusef and his young daughter set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift. Between soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints, how easy would it be to go shopping?

0.0

Khaled & Nema

Feb 8, 2024

While their village is threatened to be demolished once again by the Israeli army, Khaled and his best friend Nema the goat undertake to help Abu Mariam to recover his memory

6.8

The Robe

Sep 16, 1953

Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixion. Marcellus has never been a man of faith like his slave, Demetrius, but when Demetrius escapes with the robe, Marcellus experiences disturbing visions and feels guilty for his actions. Convinced that destroying the robe will cure him, Marcellus sets out to find Demetrius — and discovers his Christian faith along the way.

8.2

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Sep 10, 2025

January 29, 2024. Red Crescent volunteers receive an emergency call. A five-year old girl is trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to get an ambulance to her. Her name was Hind Rajab.

6.7

Divine Intervention

Apr 11, 2002

Santa Claus tries to outrun a gang of knife-wielding youth. It's one of several vignettes of Palestinian life in Israel - in a neighborhood in Nazareth and at Al-Ram checkpoint in East Jerusalem. Most of the stories are droll, some absurd, one is mythic and fanciful; few words are spoken. A man who goes through his mail methodically each morning has a heart attack. His son visits him in the hospital. The son regularly meets a woman at Al-Ram; they sit in a car, hands caressing. Once, she defies Israeli guards at the checkpoint; later, ninja-like, she takes on soldiers at a target range. A red balloon floats free overhead. Neighbors toss garbage over walls. Life goes on until it doesn't.

5.7

Miral

Sep 15, 2010

A drama centered on an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war who finds herself drawn into the conflict.

7.1

The Time That Remains

Aug 12, 2009

An examination of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 through to the present day. A semi-biographic film, in four chapters, about a family spanning from 1948 until recent times. Combined with intimate memories of each member, the film attempts to portray the daily life of those Palestinians who remained in their land and were labelled "Israeli-Arabs," living as a minority in their own homeland.