Divine Intervention

Synopsis

Santa Claus tries to outrun a gang of knife-wielding youth. It's one of several vignettes of Palestinian life in Israel - in a neighborhood in Nazareth and at Al-Ram checkpoint in East Jerusalem. Most of the stories are droll, some absurd, one is mythic and fanciful; few words are spoken. A man who goes through his mail methodically each morning has a heart attack. His son visits him in the hospital. The son regularly meets a woman at Al-Ram; they sit in a car, hands caressing. Once, she defies Israeli guards at the checkpoint; later, ninja-like, she takes on soldiers at a target range. A red balloon floats free overhead. Neighbors toss garbage over walls. Life goes on until it doesn't.

Streaming availability

free

Kanopy

flatrate

Chai Flicks

Streaming data provided by JustWatch.

Cast

Elia Suleiman

E.S.

—

Nayef Fahoum Daher

Father

—

Manal Khader

The Woman

—

George Ibrahim

Santa Claus

—

Jamel Daher

Jamal

—

Amer Daher

Auni

—

Lutuf Nouasser

Neighbor with American van

—

Riad Masarweh

Abu Basil

—

Bassem Loulou

Abu Amer

Salwa Nakkara

Adla

—

Naaman Jarjoura

Uncle

—

Rana Nashashibi

Um Elias

—

Salman Natour

Friend

—

Fares Hakim

Bus-stop Shopkeeper

—

Khalil Jarjoura

Number 6 Man

—

Hamada Shamout

Basil

David Belle

Marksman 1

—

Nazira Suleiman

Mother

Crew

Art

• Miguel Markin Production Design
• Samir Srouji Art Direction
• Samir Srouji Set Decoration
• Erez Goldfarb Set Dresser

Camera

• Marc-André Batigne Director of Photography
• Benjamin Sherwin Steadicam Operator
• Ehab Assal Focus Puller
• Yehuda Sar-Israel Clapper Loader

Costume & Make-Up

• Eve-Marie Arnault Costume Design
• Orly Ronen Makeup Supervisor
• Mohammad Atallah Wardrobe Supervisor

Crew

• Ihab Salti Video Assist Operator

Directing

• Elia Suleiman Director
• Shabtai Yitzhak First Assistant Director
• Omri Givon Second Assistant Director

Editing

• Véronique Lange Editor

Lighting

• Ferenc Radnai Gaffer

Production

• Humbert Balsan Producer
• Elia Suleiman Co-Producer
• Avi Kleinberger Line Producer
• Joachim Ortmanns Co-Producer
• Babette Schröder Associate Producer
• Najwa Mubarki Casting Coordinator
• Galit Rosenstein Additional Casting
• Keren Ron Production Manager

Sound

• Laurent Lafran Sound Recordist
• Franck Lamoureux Boom Operator
• Alon Shapira Boom Operator
• Eric Tisserand Sound Re-Recording Mixer
• Williams Schmit Sound Re-Recording Mixer
• Hervé Guyader Sound Editor
• Nicolas Lefebvre Assistant Sound Editor
• Selim Azzazi Sound Effects Designer

Visual Effects

• Manfred Büttner Visual Effects Producer
• Aurélien Vernhes-Lermusiaux Visual Effects

Writing

• Elia Suleiman Writer