Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film 2006
Winner of the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film, Santa Monica 2006
Winner of the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Film 2006
Winner of the European Screenwriter Award, Berlin 2005
Winner of the Blue Angel Award for Best European Film, Berlinale 2005
Winner of the Amnesty International Award, Berlinale 2005
Winner of the Berliner Morgenpost Audience Award, Berlinale 2005
Winner of the US National Board of Reviews Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2005
Winner of the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Ass. Award for Best Foreign Lang. Film 2005
Winner of the Netherlands Film Award for Best Film and Best Editing 2005
Winner of Best Director, Durban 2005
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, 78th Academy Awards (Oscar) 2006
Nominated for the German Film Award for Best Feature Film, German Film Academy 2006
Nominated for the German Film Award for Best Script, German Film Academy 2006
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, Broad. Film Critics Association 2006
Nominated for the Golden Bear, Berlinale 2005
Nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay, Netherlands Film Festival 2005
"PARADISE NOW" follows two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv and focuses on their last days together…
Drama, 90 min.
Languages: Arabic
Subtitles: English
World Sales- RAZOR FILM www.razor-film.de
Said - Kais Nashif
Khaled - Ali Suleiman
Suha- Lubna Azabal
Jamal- Amer Hilehel
Mother- Hiyam Abbas
Abu-Karem-Ashraf Barhoum
Directed by- Hany Abu-Assad
Produced by- Amir Harel, Byro Bayer, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul, Hengameh Panahi
Lama Films, Augustus Film, Razor Film, Celluloid Dreams
Written by- Hany Abu-Assad
In participation with
Arte, EURIMAGES, Film Fonds, Filmstiftung Northein Westfalen, Medien board, MEDIA, World Cinema Fund, Rultur Stiftung Des Bundes, Celluloid Dreams, The Israeli Film Fund
Director of Photography- Antoine Heberle
Editor - Sander Vos
Line Producer- Peter Hermann
Executive Producer -Hamoudi Buqai
Casting- Lara Zoabi
Production Designer- Olivier Meidinger
Costumes- Walid Maw`ed
Make up- Friderike Weber
Sound Design- Uve Haussig
"PARADISE NOW" is the story of two young Palestinian men as they embark upon what may be the last 48 hours of their lives. On a typical day in the West Bank city of Nablus, where daily life grinds on amidst crushing poverty and the occasional rocket blast, we meet two childhood best friends, Saïd (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), who pass time drinking tea, smoking a hookah, and working dead-end menial jobs as auto mechanics.
Saïd's day takes a turn for the better when a beautiful young woman named Suha (Lubna Azabal) brings her car in for repairs. From their spirited interaction, it is apparent that there is a budding romance growing between them.
Saïd is approached by middle-aged Jamal (Amer Hlehel), a point man for an unnamed Palestinian organization, who informs Saïd that he and Khaled have been chosen to carry out a strike in Tel Aviv.
Saïd and Khaled spend a last night at home -- although they must keep their impending mission secret even from their families. During the night Saïd sneaks off to see Suha one last time. Suha's moderate views, having been educated in Europe, and Saïd's burgeoning conflicted conscience cause him to stop short of explaining why he has come to say good-bye.
The following day, Saïd and Khaled are lead to a hole in the fence that surrounds Nablus, where they are to meet a driver who will take them to Tel Aviv. But here the plan goes wrong, and Saïd and Khaled are separated.
"PARADISE NOW" follows two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv and focuses on their last days together..