Palestinian director Hani abu-Assad has won the European Film Academy’s Best Screenplay award for his work on “Paradise Now.” Abu-Assad, who is currently attending the international film festival in Dubai, did not take part at the awards ceremony and was represented by his co-writer and one of the film’s producers, Bero Beyer.
Harel is especially proud of the Best Screenplay Award, since “it is not awarded for choosing the best topic but for cinematic adaptation. The award proves that it is above all an excellent cinematic piece d’oeuvre”.
Since the film’s premiere at the Berlin Festival, “Paradise Now” has received warm accolades and it is currently up for the Independent Feature Project’s Spirit Award in the United States.
“Paradise Now”, the story of two young men recruited for a suicide mission in Israel, was chosen as the Palestinian representative for the Oscars in the Foreign Film category.
In other film news, “Cache”, directed by Germany's Michael Haneke won best picture, beating out several notable challengers, including the Cannes Festival’s big winner, “L’Enfant”, directed by the brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
Haneke’s film, distributed in Israel by Shani Films, is a thriller co-produced by a French, Austrian, German and Italian team. The film’s main character, a television talk show host, must face anonymous threats without any assistance by local police.
The 18th annual European Film Academy’s awards ceremony took place in Berlin before an audience of actors, directors, producers and European film industry professionals. Other awards included a Lifetime Achievement Award for Scottish actor Sean Connery, and American George Clooney won the Best Non-European Film Award for “Good Night and Good Luck."
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