Jan 3, 2011
SFFILM
The Time That Remains (France/Belgium/Italy/England 2009), Elia Suleiman’s acclaimed absurdist and poignant examination of Palestinian dispossession, displacement and identity, spanning the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 through to the present day, opens Friday, February 4 on SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.
Imagine a film chronicling the lives and hardships of Palestinians who were branded “Israeli Arabs,” living as a minority in their own homeland. Now imagine it as a comedy. This contradiction, starring, written and directed by Elia Suleiman, is a wonderful fusion of the political and personal, the historical and the hysterical. Spanning from 1948 until recent times, The Time That Remains recreates the lives of Suleiman’s family and community with precise deadpan wit. Inspired by his father’s diaries and his mother’s letters to family who were forced to leave the country, Suleiman combines sometimes absurd vignettes and brightly colored mise en scène with the framing of a Jacques Tati film, interspersing touching moments of familial intimacy with tense scenes of abuse at the hands of Israelis. Under the masterful direction of an exceptionally thoughtful filmmaker, The Time That Remains deals with political history without ever becoming mired in politics. Rather, we are presented with a beautifully conceived series of wry sketches that follow one ordinary family in extraordinary times. -Cameron Bailey, Toronto International Film Festival
The Time That Remains is the final part of Suleiman’s trilogy, which began with Chronicle of a Disappearance (SFIFF 1997) and Divine Intervention.
Written by Elia Suleiman. Photographed by Marc-André Batigne. With Elia Suleiman, Saleh Bakri, Samar Qudha Tanus. In Arabic and Hebrew with subtitles. 109 min. Distributed by IFC FIlms.
For screeners contact hilary@sffs.org
For photos and press materials visit: sffs.org/pressdownloads
At the Sundance Kabuki all seats are reserved, and an amenities fee is in effect for most shows. Tickets are available through the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas box office, at kiosks in the lobby and online at sundancecinemas.com/kabuki with print-at-home capability. San Francisco Film Society members receive discounted admission to SFFS Screen programs only and only at the box office, not online or at the lobby kiosks.
Also Coming Soon to SFFS Screen
February 11: Come Undone Silvio Soldini’s film measures the day-by-day emotional cost of a love affair between a comfortably married accountant for a small insurance agency and a waiter with a wife and two young children.
February 18: And Everything Is Going Fine Steven Soderbergh’s assembled biographical tribute to Spalding Gray is as digressive and miraculously coherent as the monologues that are its principal inspiration.
February 25: How I Ended This Summer In remote Chukotka on the eastern edge of Russia, a missed communication between two men working at a polar station escalates into a taut duel of nerves. Alex Popogrebsky’s vise-like psychological thriller is part action-adventure, part gorgeous-looking art film.
SFFS Screen, the innovative exhibition partnership with Sundance Cinemas, enables the Film Society to present its acclaimed film programs and events at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas year-round.
For full, complete and up-to-date information on all SFFS Screen programming, including buying tickets, visit sffs.org. Information and tickets are also available at sundancecinemas.com.