This Place Should Be Heaven (Film)

It Must Be Heaven, directed by Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman and starring himself, is a 2019 film that continues the director’s signature silent humor while questioning the meaning of being Palestinian within a global context.

Through a journey from Nazareth to Paris and New York, the film explores universal feelings of alienation centered on themes of “statelessness,” “identity,” and “exile.” Through silence, static compositions, and an observational protagonist, the film presents both a personal and collective narrative of exile, making the invisibility of Palestine visible through the absurdities of everyday life.

Elia Suleiman, Still from the Film (IMDb)

Plot

The film begins in the director’s birthplace, Nazareth, where scenes depict the internal tensions of Palestinian society through small daily events and comedic contradictions. The protagonist then travels abroad.

In Paris and New York, Suleiman seeks funding for a film project about the Palestinian issue and encounters how his identity is perceived in each city: in Paris he is told he is “not Palestinian enough,” while in New York no one shows interest in Palestinian stories.

The character encounters a similar bureaucratic, distrustful, and alienating system wherever he goes. The film concludes with his return to Palestine.

Cast and Characters

• Elia Suleiman (E.S.): The film’s central figure is a silent observer portrayed by the director himself. Known as “E.S.,” this character observes the different faces of the world during his journey from Nazareth to Paris and New York. Although present in every scene, he never speaks; he creates meaning through gestures and glances.
• Tarik Kopty (Elderly Neighbor)
• Kareem Ghneim (Young Neighbor)
• George Khleifi (Waiter at the Restaurant)
• Ali Suliman (Man at the Restaurant 1)
• Faris Muqabaa (Man at the Restaurant 2)
• Yasmine Haj (Woman at the Restaurant)
• Asmaa Azaizeh (Bedouin Woman)
• Gregoire Colin (Man on the Metro)
• Vincent Maraval (French Producer)
• Kwasi Songui (Taxi Driver in New York)
• Guy Sprung (Professor)
• Nancy Grant (American Producer)
• Gael García Bernal (Himself)
• François Girard (Police Officer)

Elia Suleiman, Still from the Film (IMDb)

Themes

Exile, Identity, and the Global Palestinian Condition

The film addresses the condition of “not finding a place,” even when physical boundaries are crossed. Suleiman’s character experiences the same sense of alienation in every country he visits. His journey from Nazareth to Paris and New York transforms into a universal feeling of rootlessness. The character encounters identical bewilderment and exclusion everywhere, serving both as an allegory of Palestine’s historical situation and as a sign of the modern individual’s dislocation within the global order.

The film argues that the Israeli occupation in Palestine has become a global condition. In the director’s words, the world has increasingly turned into a “global Palestine”: borders, surveillance, control, and alienation are repeated everywhere. This idea reveals the universality of transnational mechanisms of oppression.

Silence, Resistance, and the Politics of Humor

The director uses cinema as a form of unarmed resistance. It Must Be Heaven, though not a directly political film, can be understood as a “soft power” response to the invisibility of Palestine.

In Suleiman’s cinema, silence is not passivity but a form of resistance. The director defines silence as “an existential revolt against the noise of power.” This silence compels the viewer to think and become aware of the moment, generating spiritual awareness in opposition to the superficiality of a consumer-driven age.

Observation, Existence, and Time-Image

Absurd situations critique political reality not directly but through the distance of humor. This dark comedy makes visible both the normalization of violence and the individual’s helplessness.

Alienation and Critique of Late Capitalism

The film critiques the structure of modern cities like Paris and New York, which isolate and mechanize the individual. In this system, which Suleiman calls “global neoliberalism,” everyone becomes a potential stranger and every city a potential border.

Elia Suleiman, Still from the Film (IMDb)

Style, Aesthetics, and Cinematic Language

Suleiman constructs his narrative through long takes, minimal dialogue, and visual irony. The director’s face functions as a “neutral mask.” Each scene in the film is a “vignette” composed of small observations; everyday absurdities carry political meaning through silent humor.

Director of Photography Sofian El Fani emphasizes the emptiness of spaces through wide shots and symmetrical framing. This aesthetic choice visually equates the “similar foreignness” of Nazareth, Paris, and New York.

The film’s music does more than create atmosphere—it is the “sound of resistance.” The Arabic song “Arabyon Ana” played in the final scene is, according to one interpretation, a cultural testimony to the continued vitality of Palestinian identity.

Yasmine Haj, George Khleifi, and Faris Muqabaa. Still from the Film (IMDb)

Production and International Contributions

The film was distributed by Le Pacte (France) and produced with contributions from Rectangle Productions, Nazira Films, Pallas Film, Zeyno Film, Doha Film Institute, and other partners. Turkish producer Zeynep Özbatur Atakan served as a co-producer. This multinational collaboration exemplifies cultural diplomacy that strengthens the global visibility of Palestinian cinema.

Nominations and Awards

It Must Be Heaven represents Elia Suleiman’s transition from political irony to a universal existential quest. The director transforms individual silence into a collective form of resistance, presenting the modern world’s boundless conditions of control and alienation as a universal Palestinian metaphor. The film is both an aesthetic observation and a visual space for contemplating the rootless, displaced human in the contemporary world.