PARADISE NOW
Year: 2005
USA: Warner Independent Pictures
UK: Warner Bros Pictures International UK
Cast: Kais Nashef, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azabal, Amer Hlehel, Hiam Abbass, Ashraf Barhoum
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Countries: Palestine / Netherlands / Germany / France
Language: Arabic (English subtitles)
USA & UK: 90 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for mature thematic material and brief strong language
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language and theme of suicide bombing
USA Release Date: 11 November 2005 (Limited Release - wider)
USA Release Date: 28 October 2005 (New York and Los Angeles)
UK Release Date: 14 April 2006
Synopsis
PARADISE NOW is the story of two young Palestinian men as they embark upon what may be the last 48 hours of their lives. On a typical day in the West Bank city of Nablus, where daily life grinds on amidst crushing poverty and the occasional rocket blast, we meet two childhood best friends, Saïd (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), who pass time drinking tea, smoking a hookah, and working dead-end menial jobs as auto mechanics.
Saïd's day takes a turn for the better when a beautiful young woman named Suha (Lubna Azabal) brings her car in for repairs. From their spirited interaction, it is apparent that there is a budding romance growing between them.
Saïd is approached by middle-aged Jamal (Amer Hlehel), a point man for an unnamed Palestinian organization who informs Saïd that he and Khaled have been chosen to carry out a strike in Tel Aviv. They have been chosen for this mission as a team, because each had expressed a wish that if either is to die a martyr, the other would want to die alongside his best friend.
Saïd and Khaled have been preparing for this moment for most of their lives. They spend a last night at home - although they must keep their impending mission secret even from their families. During the night Saïd sneaks off to see Suha one last time. Suha's moderate views, having been educated in Europe, and Saïd's burgeoning conflicted conscience cause him to stop short of explaining why he has come to say good-bye.
The following day, Saïd and Khaled are lead to a hole in the fence that marks the Israeli border, where they are to meet a driver who will take them to Tel Aviv. But here the plan goes wrong, and Saïd and Khaled are separated.
PARADISE NOW follows two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv and focuses on their last days together. When they are intercepted at the Israeli border and separated from their handlers, a young woman who discovers their plan causes them to reconsider their actions.
Winner of multiple prizes at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival, and invited to be presented at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, the film was written by Hany Abu-Assad (FORD TRANSIT, RANA'S WEDDING) & Bero Beyer and directed by Abu-Assad, and stars Kais Nashef, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azaba. PARADISE NOW is a production of Augustus Film with Lama Films, Razor Film, Lumen Films, Arte France Cinema, Hazazah Film and produced with the support of Nederlands Fonds Voor De Film, Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Eurimages, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, I2I Preparatory Action of the European Community and World Cinema Fund.