Filmmaker in Focus: 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.