Coming Soon
THE TIME THAT REMAINS
2009
Director
Elia Suleiman
Starring
Saleh Bakri
Elia Suleiman
Samar Qudha Tanus
Shafika Bajjali
Zuhair Abu Hanna
Runtime
109 MINUTES
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“It is a form of resistance to laugh. Especially to laugh in the face of oppression and authority.” — Elia Suleiman
There is perhaps no other filmmaker in Palestine or elsewhere with the gift of joke craftsmanship that director and actor Elia Suleiman possesses. Delicately layering horrific scenarios from a life lived under the boot of Israeli occupation in such a way that their absurdity brings out humor, Suleiman’s films will make you laugh in the face of what may seem unimaginable. Subtitled Chronicle of a Present Absentee, Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman’s third film, THE TIME THAT REMAINS, shows off his gift to effortlessly juggle Brechtian theater, comedic timing and real tragedy.
Inspired by his father’s diaries, letters his mother sent to family members who had fled the Israeli occupation, and the director’s own recollections, THE TIME THAT REMAINS spans from 1948 until the present, recounting the saga of Suleiman’s family with tableau-like theatricality. Inserting himself as a silent observer reminiscent of Buster Keaton, Suleiman trains a keen eye on the absurdities of life in Nazareth. Soldiers and citizens alike buzz across elegantly staged static shots as Suleiman’s deadened and silent gaze follows, catching the details and ironies of the oppressor’s movement in passing vignettes that form a ruptured narrative of lesser known historical events. Through film, Suleiman has designated his own form of resistance by designing an immersive sense of enclosure and then patiently crafting the perfect attack—a well timed punchline.
There is perhaps no other filmmaker in Palestine or elsewhere with the gift of joke craftsmanship that director and actor Elia Suleiman possesses. Delicately layering horrific scenarios from a life lived under the boot of Israeli occupation in such a way that their absurdity brings out humor, Suleiman’s films will make you laugh in the face of what may seem unimaginable. Subtitled Chronicle of a Present Absentee, Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman’s third film, THE TIME THAT REMAINS, shows off his gift to effortlessly juggle Brechtian theater, comedic timing and real tragedy.
Inspired by his father’s diaries, letters his mother sent to family members who had fled the Israeli occupation, and the director’s own recollections, THE TIME THAT REMAINS spans from 1948 until the present, recounting the saga of Suleiman’s family with tableau-like theatricality. Inserting himself as a silent observer reminiscent of Buster Keaton, Suleiman trains a keen eye on the absurdities of life in Nazareth. Soldiers and citizens alike buzz across elegantly staged static shots as Suleiman’s deadened and silent gaze follows, catching the details and ironies of the oppressor’s movement in passing vignettes that form a ruptured narrative of lesser known historical events. Through film, Suleiman has designated his own form of resistance by designing an immersive sense of enclosure and then patiently crafting the perfect attack—a well timed punchline.