'divine hand') is a 2002 film by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, which may be described as a surreal black comedy.
One lyrical section features a sunglasses-clad Palestinian woman (played by Manal Khader) whose passing by not only distracts all eyes, but whose gaze causes Israeli military checkpoint towers to crumble.
The director features prominently as the film's silent, expressionless protagonist in a performance that has been compared to the work of Buster Keaton, Jim Jarmusch and Jacques Tati.
Divine Intervention while being a series of interconnected sketches, is a glimpse at life of Palestinians living under military occupation going in between the cities of Nazareth and Ramallah.
The characters of the film are only able to observe the happenings of their everyday life without being able to interfere much as they are under military occupation and must adhere to it.
Armed with guns, they repeatedly fire at targets painted like a Palestinian woman under the direction of a choreographer-officer.
A helicopter appears to reinforce the Israelis, which the woman also easily destroys throwing a sheld with the form of Palestine.
In late 2002, producer Humbert Balsan authorized the US distributor of the film to release a statement which stated that Balsan had asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences if the film could run for best foreign language picture.
However, spokesperson John Pavlik states that the Academy had never made a decision on that issue because Suleiman had never submitted his film.
Critics like The Electronic Intifada and others, claim that the Academy did make a decision, and that it was based on political considerations.
Rahman, Lebanese electro-pop band Soapkills and Paris-based record producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï.
Track listing: The film screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival on May 12,[5] was awarded the Jury Prize[6] and the FIPRESCI Prize for "its sensitive, amusing and innovative vision of a complex and topical situation and the tragic consequences that result from it".