Elia Suleiman, first Palestinian to receive European Film Academy award
The European Film Academy has awarded its most prestigious prize, which honours a lifetime achievement, to director Elia Suleiman for "his impressive dedication to filmmaking". In the 35 years that the Academy has been organising the European Film Awards, this is the first time that a Palestinian filmmaker has won the coveted trophy for best director.
Born in 1960 in Nazareth, Elia Suleiman is the son of a war resister against the nascent state of Israel in 1948. At the age of 17 he managed to go into exile in London, and between 1981 and 1993 he moved to New York. In the capital of skyscrapers, he began making his first short films while working as a lecturer at several American universities.
In 1994, he was commissioned by the European Commission to set up the Department of Media and Audiovisual Production at Birzeit University, a Palestinian town near Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority. In 1996, he directed his first documentary, "Chronicle of a Disappearance", in which he told the story of his own family. The film won the first prize at the Venice Film Festival. Since then, and after taking up permanent residence in Paris, he has ventured into the paths of black comedy, in which he invariably plays the role of his own character.
His most recent film, "That Must Be Paradise" (2019), describes his journey of leaving Palestine in search of a new home in which to settle in the world. It is a satirical film, in which he parodies one after another of the countries in which he has lived. Presented at the Cannes Film Festival, it won the Jury's Special Mention and the Critics' Prize.
The current award from the European Academy is the consecration of his recognition as one of today's great directors, something that had already been anticipated by the Doha Film Institute, which has appointed him its artistic director. He has also previously won the Prince Claus Award of the Netherlands, as well as the Henri-Jeanson Award, established in memory of one of the best French film scriptwriters, and awarded by the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD).
Whether his films are documentaries, dramas or black comedies, Elia Suleiman always introduces notes and plots that highlight the tragedy of the Palestinian people, tempered with large doses of humour, black humour of course.
