As both an allegory of the current state of Arab-Israeli relations and a         darkly devastating comedy, Elia Suleiman's award-winning film is a revelation.   A Palestinian man (Suleiman) and his Israeli girlfriend (Manal Khader) must      meet near an Israeli checkpoint whenever they want to visit. This seemingly    inconvenient arrangement proves epically challenging in a series of hilarious  episodes of comic friction and bizarre surrealism. "The Dr. Strangelove  of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, bringing barely acknowledged fears to the   surface so they can be understood" (David Sterritt, Christian Science       Monitor). In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles.                      Elia Suleiman---France / Germany / Morocco---2002---92 mins.