Can Elia Suleiman's satirical film bring Palestine its first Oscar?
"It Must Be Heaven" centers on the story of a Palestinian fugitive in search of a new homeland — with a reference to national poet Mahmoud Darwish's line “Where do the birds fly after the last sky?”
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Palestinian Ministry of Culture has selected “It Must Be Heaven” — a satire written and directed by Elia Suleiman — to represent the country at the 92nd Academy Awards, scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on Feb. 9, 2020.
The 97-minute film will compete with 29 other foreign-language films for best international feature film at the Oscars. "It Must Be Heaven," which contains strong visual language, centers on the story of a Palestinian fugitive in search of a new homeland as he flees from city to city. However, in every place he finds himself, the specter of Palestine haunts him in the presence of security agents and police, in weapons, in the militarization and repression, recalling the practices of the Israeli army in his home country.
