The Time That Remains

Starting from the establishment of the state of Israel and spanning four historical episodes from 1948 to the present, THE TIME THAT REMAINS is a semi-biographical film by the most acclaimed director of Palestinian cinema, Elia Suleiman, portraying a family’s journey through the most complicated times of Palestinian history. Presented with the authentic humour exclusive to Suleiman’s films, the film is Inspired by Elia Suleiman’s father’s diary as a resistance fighter and his mother’s letters to exiled family members who were forced to leave the country in 1948.

Considered a milestone of Palestinian cinema and hailed internationally for blending personal memories with the political and social context of a nation facing an existential crisis, the film paints a dark and yet humorous portrait of the daily challenges and unusual lives of Palestinians who live in their homeland as a minority.

Born in Nazareth in 1960, Elia Suleiman lived in New York from 1981-1993, directing his first short films: INTRODUCTION TO THE END OF AN ARGUMENT and HOMAGE BY ASSASSINATION, which won numerous awards globally. Settling in Jerusalem in 1994, he established a Film and Media Department at Birzeit University where his essays appeared in English, Arabic, and French. CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE, his debut feature, earned the Best First Film Prize at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. In 2002, DIVINE INTERVENTION won the Jury Prize at Cannes and the Best Foreign Film Prize at the European Awards in Rome. 

Since then, Suleiman has been one of the leading figures of Arab cinematography making some of the most exceptional films of Palestinian cinema and presenting the history of his homeland as well as his own life with humour which is extremely authentic and personal, blending burlesque and sobriety with poetic finesse.