Chronicle of a Disappearance

After years abroad, Elia Suleiman returns to Nazareth, and the film watches that return: the family house, the neighbours, the men sitting in the café, the daily friction in Jerusalem. Suleiman plays himself and barely speaks; the scenes are short, static, and most of them end on a joke. Instead of narrative there are situations: a telephone that will not break, two fishermen quarrelling, police patrolling at night. That is the idea, that occupation becomes visible not through large events but through the small absurdities of ordinary life. It is his first feature and won best first film at Venice in 1996. The style of everything he made afterwards is already assembled here. Who it is for: viewers who like Palestinian cinema and political films built in the language of silent comedy. Who it is not for: anyone expecting narrative, since this is fragmentary by design.