Between Heaven and Earth World Premieres at Cairo International Film Festival

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Within the International Competition

Between Heaven and Earth World Premieres at Cairo International Film Festival


Palestinian film Between Heaven and Earth by director Najwa Najjar lands its World Premiere within the International Competition at the 41st Cairo International Film Festival (20-29 November). The film will be screened twice; on Saturday, 23 November, at 9:30 pm in the Great Hall, and on Sunday, at 4:30 pm in Zawya Cinema (Karim 1).

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 hands 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.

This year, the Cairo International Film Festival presents 150 features, documentaries and short film, including 30 world premieres. The festival has also received several major international films.