Last session of the Official Section in competition of La Mostra de Valencia with which we say goodbye to its main program in competition of this edition that, little by little, is approaching its closure. We close, So, this screening space passing through Palestinian-Israeli lands with a production that won the Best Screenplay award at the Cairo International Film Festival last year..
In Between heaven and earth director Najwa Najjar introduces us to Tamer and Salma, a Palestinian couple living in the West Bank area. After five years of relationship, they have decided to divorce. Bueno, In fact, she is the one who wants to divorce him. But, in order to comply with the bureaucratic procedure that breaks the bond that unites them, They must cross to the city of Nazareth, on the Israeli side, to appear before the court that in accordance with your case. For it, get a three day pass. But things are not going to be easy for the couple.. When they are in front of the official on duty, he demands them, among other documentation, that specify the last whereabouts of Tamer's father, a well-known Palestinian intellectual and activist murdered years ago in the city of Beirut, in Lebanon. That is, at least, what he believes. But, according to the data recorded on the computer, His father had his last residence in the home of a woman of Jewish origin.. That revelation, will force the couple to carry out a search to obtain the testimony or document that refutes this fact in order to consummate their separation.. Thus, A journey begins for them that will bring them some surprises..
The premises of the plot presented, Between heaven and earth is developed according to the canons of a road movie classic cut. On the way to your final destination, Different situations and events will transform the characters as these experiences modify the knowledge they have of themselves and their past.. As the production notes indicate, the belt of Najwa Najjar is, First, a love story. This allows the director to transcend the borders of the sociological context in which she operates and give her work a more global character.. Between heaven and earth It is a film that reminds us that life as a couple is always a matter of two. Tamer does not want to separate from Salma. However, to prevent it, She will have to learn that she is also a full part of that complex equation of coexistence.. In this point, Najjar's film reflects on the role of women in contemporary Palestinian society. In one of the first sequences of the film, Both are preparing to get into the car with which they are going to begin their trip.. Salma gets behind the wheel, a fact that does not convince Tamer and forces her to sit in the passenger seat.. This constant tension to see who takes the wheel of the vehicle will become, along the journey, in symbol of the roles that each of the characters take in the relationship.
Exposed the bases of the argument, Najjar's work gains importance as he investigates the political situation in which this small modern story takes place.. History reminds us, first of all, what it means to live in an environment in which you cannot do the slightest procedure without being supervised by a power that, besides, treats you like a second class citizen. Unlike other approaches, Najjar addresses this issue in a very discreet way, without the need to take its representation to the extreme, hiding the violence, but letting its omnipresent presence appear in the small details. A power that is perceived when its protagonists have to pass the control to cross the border or in something so tangible., everyday and, at the same time, significant, How to choose with whom you can or cannot share your life. The power appears, in this way, like an abstract and faceless entity, but whose breath is felt everywhere.
This first approach directly invites us to reflect on the attempt to live outside the political conflicts that surround us., especially in situations as delicate as the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation. Although Tamer lives under the weight of the memory of his father's death, does not seem to have a special inclination to participate in political issues or, at least, They are not the center of your concerns. But, after a deeper investigation into the circumstances surrounding that tragic event, Both Salma and Tamer will realize to what extent the conflict conditions who they are.. Es, In this aspect, when the love story mixes with the political problem. Najjar tells us that it is very difficult to overcome the legacy of a History that passes over its protagonists until it intrudes into the most hidden spaces of their intimacy and their construction as individuals..
Between heaven and earth It is a tape that pushes us to meditate, ultimately, about the coexistence between two peoples that remain at odds, but whose lives are closely linked, and whose fate cannot be resolved without the participation of the other side. On the way, We will witness a convoluted tangle of responsibilities and blame with very complicated ramifications and whose resolution, instead of approaching, every day it appears more distant to us. G.LEON
