Elia Suleiman

Born in 1960 in Nazareth, Elia Suleiman lived in New York from 1981 to 1993. While in the Unites States, he directed his first two short films: Introduction to the End of an Argument and Homage by Assassination, winning numerous awards. In 1994, he settled down in Jerusalem, where the European Commission entrusts him with the mission of creating a Film and Media Department at Birzeit University. His essays and articles have been published in English, Arabic and French.

His first feature film, Chronicle of a Disappearance, won the Best First Film Prize at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. In 2002, Divine Intervention won the Jury Prize at the Festival de Cannes as well as the Best Foreign Film Prize at the European Awards in Rome. In 2006, he was member of the Jury of the Festival de Cannes. In 2007, he was one of the 35 directors of "To Each His Own Cinema" collective film produced for the Cannes Film Festival 60th anniversary. 

Often compared to Tati and Keaton, Elia Suleiman handles burlesque and sobriety with the same poetic sense. In 2009, The time that remains was selected in the official competition of the Festival de Cannes, and was awarded the Variety International best director of the year. Elia is the recipient of the 2008 Prince Claus Award and has been named the by Variety Magazine as the Middle-East filmmaker of the year 2009.