Elia Suleiman, director and star of 'Divine Intervention,' was born in Nazareth in 1960. Suleiman was working for minimum wage at a clippings library in New York when he began schooling himself in cinema. Between 1981 and 1984 his love of cinema, raw talent and determination blossomed, earning Elia recognition leading to him lecturing at universities, art institutions and museums when he lived in New York. He returned to Palestine in 1994 were he established a film and media department at Birzeit University near Ramallah. In 1996 Suleiman was granted the Best Film Prize at the Venice Film Festival for 'Chronicle of a Disappearance.' He was beginning to make a name for himself when he starred and directed his highly acclaimed film 'Divine Intervention,' a dark comic masterpiece highlighting the hardships of Palestinian daily life under Israeli occupation.

'Divine Intervention' was the first Palestinian film to make it to the Cannes Festival in Paris, reeling in the Jury Prize award. 'Divine Intervention' went on to win the Screen International Award at the European Film Awards in which he competed against blockbusters such as Steven Spielberg's - Minority Report - and Roman Polanski's - The Pianist. The film managed to attract close to 30,000 spectators in France alone in the first week. The film also received the Silver Hugo at the Chicago Film Festival and was played in the New York Film Festival were it received very positive reviews even from the toughest critics, including the New York Times. After touring Europe the film is now airing in all cinemas throughout the US and Canada including the prestigious Manhattan Angelika Film Center. It has and will take part in over 15 film festivals throughout the US and Canada over the course of the year.

When the producer of the film, Humbert Balsam, spoke with (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) AMPAS' executive director Davis Bruce in October, he was told that the film from Palestine would not be eligible to compete. "As the producer of Divine Intervention, he [Balsan] asked the Academy if the film could run for best foreign language picture. The answer of the Academy was no, Palestine is not a state we recognize in our rules." This is the only statement which has been released by Electronic Intifada upon the producers' request. The Toronto Star also reported: "The academy does not accept films from countries that are not recognized by the United Nations, Pavlik [Academy Spokesperson] said, adding it also had to be nominated by a committee of recognized filmmakers from Palestine. Pavlik said in both cases "Divine Intervention" might have failed the test. Palestine does not have membership in the United Nations but is recognized as an "entity" that has "[permanent] observer status" in the international body."

AMPAS' published rules make no mention of the requirement that a country needs a particular status in the UN to qualify. If there are such rules they have been bent before: Taiwan submitted a film to the academy pictures and was accepted. In 2000 "Solomon and Gaenor," was a finalist for the Best Foreign Film award, representing Wales. Neither Wales nor Taiwan are independent states or hold any status or representation at the United Nations. However, Palestine has maintained an officially recognized at the UN for decades, and is recognized by most countries which Palestine holds diplomatic relations with, at the ambassadorial level. A committee of Palestinian artists had been formed in order to nominate the film which did play for over a week in Ramallah, as the Oscar 'written' regulations state.

This was a pre-emptive strike; AMPAS is preventing the film from taking part before it had even formally submitted an application. In fact, the film was to be submitted for next years' ceremony. It seems the Academy Awards is in a defensive position, for the controversy is not the film, it is that a Palestinian film, which crosses all the 'checkpoints,' is distributed and acknowledged worldwide, but denied a chance to compete for purely political reasons. This anticipatory political strike has further polluted the arts, which should judge films based on cinematic regulations in order to maintain its integrity and purity. There may not be a Palestinian state yet, as Israel's occupation continues, but there is a Palestinian film representing the people whose existence can not be denied.

The European Film Awards and the Cannes Film Festival recognized the nation of Palestine and granted awards to the representatives, while the Chicago Film Festival recognizes the Palestinians as an entity, and the Academy do not recognize Palestine in any shape or form! Like in every aspect of Palestinian life, Europe and America need to decide whether the Palestinians exist and have rights or not. This is all very strange as far as artists and art goes, for cinema itself is one place, one artistic medium that transgresses borders and does not necessarily have a nationalistic outlook. Nevertheless, 'Divine Intervention' is the 17th most visited movie website and Time Magazine has ranked the movie as the seventh best picture of the year. When asked about this controversy and a possible call for action, Elia simply said "people should go and see the film."

View the Divine Intervention trailer