CHRISTIE PITS Park
Sunday, july 19, 2026

It must be heaven

With the short film Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts

Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman’s It Must Be Heaven resists description. On the surface, the film follows Suleiman, playing himself, leaving Palestine in search of a new homeland, but finding absurd yet delightful parallels to his home country wherever he goes. He journeys to Paris, New York, Montreal, Nazareth – and ultimately ends up in a joyful queer bar in Haifa, Palestine. The premise, however, falls short at truly capturing how formally inventive, daring, funny, and ultimately hopeful Suleiman’s film is – as if the spirits of Jacques Tati and Buster Keaton have been reborn within Elia Suleiman. It Must Be Heaven captures Palestinian joy and humour, and is a much needed respite and reminder of the resolve of Palestinian people. 

Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Shervin Kermani’s docufiction short film Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts takes a similarly whimsical approach to memory and location. The film follows the titular Ramón, who walks the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands following the 2021 Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption, looking for ghosts. While playful in tone, Kermani’s reverence for the victims of the disaster is front and centre. At its core, Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts grapples with what it means to lose your entire community and to start anew.