It Must Be Heaven

It Must Be Heaven (Arabic: إن شئت كما في السماء, romanized: ʾin šiʾtu kamā fīs-samāʾ, lit. 'If you wish, as in heaven')^[1] is a 2019 internationally co-produced comedy-drama film directed, written and starred by Elia Suleiman.^[2] It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.^[3][4]

It Must Be Heaven
Cannes release poster
Directed by	Elia Suleiman
Written by	Elia Suleiman
Produced by	Édouard Weil Laurine Pelassy Elia Suleiman Zeynep Özbatur Atakan Martin Hampel Thanassis Karathanos Michel Merkt Serge Noël
Starring	Elia Suleiman
Narrated by	Elia Suleiman
Cinematography	Sofian El Fani
Edited by	Véronique Lange
Production companies	Rectangle Productions Pallas Film Nazira Films Possibles Media Zeynofilm
Distributed by	Le Pacte
Release date	24 May 2019 (2019-05-24) (Cannes)
Running time	97 minutes
Countries	France Germany Canada Qatar Palestine Turkey
Languages	Arabic French English Spanish Hebrew

It was selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.^[5]

Plot

A Palestinian man travels abroad. He encounters strange and familiar scenes.

Cast

• Elia Suleiman as himself
• Ali Suliman as Brother 1 in Restaurant
• François Girard as Policeman
• Gael García Bernal as himself
• Nancy Grant as Producer
• Guy Sprung as Professor
• Kwasi Songui as Taxi driver
• Stephen McHattie as Fortune teller
• Raïa Haïdar as Femen
• Alain Dahan as Immigration officer
• Vincent Maraval as Producer
• Grégoire Colin as Man in subway

Reception

As of October 2021^[update], the film holds a 96% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "An entrancing blend of the poignant and the absurd, It Must Be Heaven finds writer-director Elia Suleiman returning to action in peak form."^[6] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 69 out of 100, based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable".^[7]

Awards

At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, It Must Be Heaven received the Special Mention from the Main Competition Jury,^[8][9] and the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film In Competition.^[10]

At the 2019 Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF), the film was awarded 4,000 € in broadcasting rights in Belgium.^[11]

See also

• List of submissions to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
• List of Palestinian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

References

1. https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/112325/Cairo-Film-Society-Festival-announces-its-jury-members
2. "It Must Be Heaven". Cineuropa. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
3. "Cannes festival 2019: full list of films". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
4. "The Screenings Guide 2019". 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
5. Day, Emma (21 August 2019). "Oscars 2020: Filmmaker Elia Suleiman to represent Palestine in Best Foreign Language Film submission". The National. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
6. "It Must Be Heaven (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
7. "It Must Be Heaven". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
8. "Bong Joon-ho's Parasite Wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes". Variety. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
9. Pulver, Andrew (25 May 2019). "Bong Joon-ho's Parasite wins Palme d'Or at Cannes film festival". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
10. "Cannes: 'It Must Be Heaven' Takes FIPRESCI Critics' Prize". The Hollywood Reporter. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
11. "Awards 2019". BRIFF. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2021.

External links

• It Must Be Heaven at IMDb