Between Heaven and Earth Releases at Cinema Akil, UAE

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Continuing its Tour across the Arab World

Between Heaven and Earth Releases at Cinema Akil, UAE


Palestinian film Between Heaven and Earth by Director Najwa Najjar will release at Cinema Akil, UAE, where it will screen for three consecutive weeks, starting from the closing ceremony of ReelPalestine festival on January 30 to February 18. The UAE marks the second Arab country, following Egypt, where the film will be released. Furthermore, the film’s release in Egypt, at Zawya cinema, was a great success that lasted for over a month.

Cinema Akil is an independent cinema platform that brings quality films from across the world to audiences in the UAE. Showcasing various masterpieces across the decades, Cinema Akil aims to create awareness and interest in film and cinematic arts.

Between Heaven and Earth has been selected to compete for the Golden Globe Awards and the European Film Awards. The film has garnered several awards at international festivals, including the Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay, during the last edition of Cairo International Film Festival, Best Feature Audience Award at Boston Palestine Film Festival, and Best Male Performance at Mostra di Valencia Film Festival and Audience Award at Middle East Now Film Festival Florence.

A thirty-something couple, Salma and Tamer, have been married for the past five years and living in the Palestinian Territory. The first time Tamer is ever given a three-day permit to cross the Israeli checkpoint, is to file for divorce in the courts in Nazareth. At the courthouse, they are confronted with a staggering discovery about the past of Tamer’s father; a secret which sends Salma and Tamer spinning on an emotional road trip exploring the loss and betrayal of the past, and of themselves.

Written and directed by Palestinian filmmaker Najwa Najjar, the film is produced by Ustura Films, in co-production with Paul Thiltges Distributions (Luxembourg) and Oktober Films (Iceland). MAD Solutions handles the film’s Arab world distribution.

Najwa Najjar is a Palestinian writer/director. She received her BA in Political Science and Economy, and her MA in Film and Video Production (USA). Since 2000, she has worked on both documentary and feature films. In 2009, she directed her award-winning critically acclaimed debut feature film Pomegranates and Myrrh (2009), followed by her second award winning film: Eyes of a Thief (2014), which earned the award for Best Actor at the Cairo International Film Festival and was Palestine's official submission for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film category in 2015 and the Golden Globe Awards. Between Heaven and Earth is her latest project.

Najwa has also given several Directors’ Masterclasses and was on several international film festival Juries, as well as a reader for the Rawi Sundance Lab for Arab scriptwriters and an advisor for the Rawi Sundance Scriptwriters’ Lab. In 2020, she received an invitation to join the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Between Heaven and Earth’s Screening Times at Cinema Akil

Saturday, January 30, 9:30 PM
Tuesday, February 2, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM
February, February 3, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM
Thursday, February 4, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM
Friday, February 5, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM
Tuesday, February 9, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM
Wednesday, February 10, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM
Thursday, February 11, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM
Friday, February 12, 4:00 PM, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM
Tuesday, February 16, 7:00 pm, 9:30 PM
Wednesday, February 17, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM
Thursday, February 18, 7:00 PM, 9:30 PM