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Divine Intervention (Arabic: yadun ilahi يد إلهي) is a 2002 film by the Israeli Palestinian director Elie Suleiman, which may be described as a surreal black comedy. The film consists largely of a series of brief interconnected sketches, but for the most part records a day in the life of a Palestinian living in East Jerusalem, whose girlfriend lives several checkpoints away in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

One lyrical section feature a beautiful sunglasses-clad Palestinian woman (played by Manal Khader) whose passing by not only distracts all eyes, but whose gaze causes Israeli military checkpoint towers to crumble. The director features prominently as the film's silent, expressionless protagonist in an iconic and powerfully moving performance often compared to the work of Buster Keaton.

Despite being nominated for the "Palme d'Or" award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, the film's consideration as candidate for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards was an occasion for considerable controversy. After a vigorous campaign by Zionist activists to bar the movie, the film was denied consideration by the California-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, based on a spontaneously declared informal policy that "The academy does not accept films from countries that are not recognized by the United Nations," and "Palestine does not have membership in the United Nations." Many observers felt that the Academy's decision was based on political considerations. The film was however considered for an Oscar the following year.

External links

• Divine Intervention at IMDb
• A review

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