Controversial Film About Palestinian Suicide Bombers Wins Award at Berlin Film Festival

February 20, 2005

Source: Jerusalem Post

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1108869557635&p=1078113566627

On February 20, 2005 the Jerusalem Post reported, "A controversial film about two Palestinian suicide bombers, Paradise Now, won a major prize at the 55th Berlin Film Festival on Saturday. The film had been considered a contender to win the festival's top overall award, the Golden Bear, which instead went to the South African movie Carmen in Khayelitsha. Paradise Now, a French-German-Dutch production, instead took home the Blue Angel award for best European film, as well as two additional prizes at the festival – the Amnesty International Film Prize and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Prize. The film was written and directed by Nazareth-born Hany Abu Assad, and shot mostly in Nablus. Its story unfolds over 24 hours in the lives of two young men who are chosen to carry out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. Among those involved in making the movie was the Israeli production company Lama Films. Last week, Lama Films' executive Amir Harel told The Jerusalem Post that Paradise Now did not glorify suicide bombers, and was also critical toward the Palestinian side."