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Paradise Now is the story of two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a major operation in Tel Aviv. It centers on what is presumably their final day on earth. They cannot utter a word of their plans to their families. The following day, the two are sent to the border. The bombs have been attached to their bodies in such a way as to make them completely hidden from view. However, the operation does not go according to plan and the two friends lose sight of each other, leaving each one up to their own fate, while struggling with their convictions.

The last 24 hours of the two childhood friends, played by actors Kais Nashif and Ali Suliman, who are recruited for "a major operation" in Tel Aviv, brings to the fore many of core issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The film gives voice to the Palestinian condemnation of violence while offering insight into the individuals behind such acts. [ei]

As a Palestinian director, Hany Abu-Assad fully recognized he was stepping into a political minefield. By making a feature film about two young Palestinians who volunteer to become suicide bombers, he risked being accused either of glorifying terrorism or of betraying resistance to the Israeli occupation.[NYT]

Paradise Now, from Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, is a powerfully moving film about two young men chosen to carry out a mission of destruction in Israel. Surprisingly, although a definitive contrast between the run-down, desert-like, concrete environment of the Palestinian town in the West Bank and the lush, modern, tropical look of an Israeli city is depicted at the end, the one thing Paradise Now does not emphasize is the hardships of Palestinian life other than in subtle ways — the sound of an explosion in the distance, the sight of an Israeli roadblock. But what Abu-Assad does do is show a relatively balance depiction of the argument within Palestinian society about how best to achieve their goals. The film does not argue that suicide bombing is a good tactic, and in fact — although I'm sure different people may view it in different ways — we see it as an argument against this method of revolution. However, it does its best to provide an accurate representation of why and how they do what they do, humanizing them, and showing that they're not necessarily the band of religious zealots much of the world imagines them to be. Particularly interesting to us is the one main female character in the film, the daughter of a noted "martyr," who provides the sole voice of reason and peace. Maybe what Paradise Now really communicates — intentionally or not — is that if women were in charge, violence would be a lesser component of this conflict. [gothamist]

On the other hand, since the launch of this movie, it did not escape –as expected– the Anti-Semitic charges from Zionists. A small google for Paradise Now will lead you to so many rants and accusations to the movie and to critique review Germany's daily WELT (Dutch) to the German Authorities who Co-Financed it (poor Germans).

Hani Abu Assad's Paradise Now won the AGICOA�s Blue Angel Award for the best European film at the Berlinale 2005 and Amnesty International Film Prize. The film has been acquired by Warner Independent Pictures, and their the official Synopsis:

"PARADISE NOW" is the story of two young Palestinian men as they embark upon what may be the last 48 hours of their lives. On a typical day in the West Bank city of Nablus, where daily life grinds on amidst crushing poverty and the occasional rocket blast, we meet two childhood best friends, Sa�d (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), who pass time drinking tea, smoking a hookah, and working dead-end menial jobs as auto mechanics.

Sa�d's day takes a turn for the better when a beautiful young woman named Suha (Lubna Azabal) brings her car in for repairs. From their spirited interaction, it is apparent that there is a budding romance growing between them.

Sa�d is approached by middle-aged Jamal (Amer Hlehel), a point man for an unnamed Palestinian organization who informs Sa�d that he and Khaled have been chosen to carry out a strike in Tel Aviv. They have been chosen for this mission as a team, because each had expressed a wish that if either is to die a martyr, the other would want to die alongside his best friend.

Sa�d and Khaled have been preparing for this moment for most of their lives. They spend a last night at home — although they must keep their impending mission secret even from their families. During the night Sa�d sneaks off to see Suha one last time. Suha's moderate views, having been educated in Europe, and Sa�d's burgeoning conflicted conscience cause him to stop short of explaining why he has come to say good-bye.

The following day, Sa�d and Khaled are lead to a hole in the fence that marks the Israeli border, where they are to meet a driver who will take them to Tel Aviv. But here the plan goes wrong, and Sa�d and Khaled are separated.

"PARADISE NOW" follows two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv and focuses on their last days together. When they are intercepted at the Israeli border and separated from their handlers, a young woman who discovers their plan causes them to reconsider their actions.

Winner of multiple prizes at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival, and invited to be presented at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, the film was written by Hany Abu-Assad ("Ford Transit," "Rana's Wedding") & Bero Beyer and directed by Abu-Assad, and stars Kais Nashef, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azaba., "PARADISE NOW" is a production of Augustus Film with Lama Films, Razor Film, Lumen Films, Arte France Cinema, Hazazah Film and produced with the support of Nederlands Fonds Voor De Film, Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Eurimages, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, I2I Preparatory Action of the European Community and World Cinema Fund.

Directed by: Hany Abu-Assad

Cast: Kais Nashef, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azabal, Amer Hlehel, Hiam Abbass

[hat tip: Manar Abou-El-Afia]