Elia Suleiman makes tender, funny films about Palestinian life. Why has his latest caused outrage?

"I heard these stories from my father," Suleiman says. "When he fell sick, I asked him to write them down. But I didn't think I was mature enough to handle them: it's a thin rope to walk along without falling into all kinds of aesthetic and political traps."

Elia Suleiman: stories my father told me

Elia Suleiman makes tender, funny films about Palestinian life. Why has his latest caused outrage? Steve Rose finds out ...read more

'I refuse linear histories' ... Elia Sulieman. Photograph: Felix Clay