SYNOPSIS

Waleed (40) lives in Haifa with his wife and children and dreams of a writing career while suffering from chronic depression. He develops a close relationship with his neighbor (a small- time crook) with an ulterior plot in mind. While the scheme turns into an unexpected friendship between the two men, it leads them into a journey of dark encounters.

Original title: Mediterranean Fever Country: Palestine, Germany, France, Cyprus and Qatar Language: Arabic Running time: 108 min Production Year: 2022

CAST

Amer Hlehel, Ashraf Farah, Anat Hadid, Samir Elias, Cynthia Saleem, Shaden Kanboura

CREW

Director: Maha Haj Screenwriter: Maha Haj Editor: Véronique Lange DOP: Antoine Héberlé Production Designer: Andreas Antoniou Sound : Jorg Weimann, Adrian Baumeister, Florian Marquardt, Henry Uhl Music : Munder Odeh Costumes: Hamada Attalah Producers: Baher Aghbariya (Majdal Films), Thanassis Karathanos, Martin Hampel (Pallas Film), Juliette Lepoutre, Pierre Menahem (Still Moving), Marios Piperides, Janine Teerling (Amp Filmworks). In association with: Metafora Production With the support of: Metteldeutsche Medienforderung, Eurimages Council of Europe, Cyprus Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth, La Région Île-de-France, Doha Film Institute, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and l’Aide aux cinémas du monde du CNC et Institut Français. World Sales: Luxbox French Distribution: Dulac Distribution

FESTIVALS & AWARDS

Cannes Film Festival 2022 - Un certain Regard (Winner of the Best Screenplay Prize)

Sydney Film Festival - Feature Section

Melbourne International Film Festival

Edinburgh International Film Festival

Hong Kong International film Festival - Official Competition - Firebird Award Winner

Sarajevo International Film Festival (2022)

Vancouver International Film Festival (2022)

Chicago International Film Festival (2022)

Sao Paolo International Film Festival (2022)

Brisbane International Film Festival (2022)

Sevilla European Film Festival (2022)

Goa International Film Festival (2022)

Palm Springs International Film Festival (2023)

Rotterdam International Film Festival (2023)

Bengaluru International Film Festival (2023)

San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (2023)

MOOOV Film Festival (2023)

Director’s Filmography

Personal Affairs, 2016 - Feature film

Golden Camera & Un Certain Regard Award Contender, Cannes Film Festival 2016
Best Feature Film Award, Haifa Int’ Film Festival 2016
Critics Award, International Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier 2016 
Archie Award Best 1st Feature, Philadelphia Film Festival 2016
Special Mention, Zurich Film Festival 2016

Behind These Walls, 2010 - Documentary

Oranges, 2009 - Short film

Filmography as Production Designer

The Time That Remains, by Elia Suleiman, 2009 - Feature Film                                       

Elvis Of Nazareth, by Rani Masalha, 2011 - Short Film

The Attack, by Ziad Douiri, 2011 - Feature Film

Mazing Love, by Kevin Dawnes, 2011 - Feature Film

Arabany, by Adi Adwan, 2012 - Feature Film

Above The Hill, by Raphael Nedjari, 2013 - Feature Film

Director's Biography

Maha Haj was born in Nazareth in 1970. She graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in English and Arabic literature. Her cinematic experience was derived from her work as an artistic designer in the productions of The Time That Remain by Elia Suleiman, The Attack by Ziad Douairi, as well as On the Hill by Rafael Natjari.                                                                        

She wrote and directed the short film Oranges (2009) and the documentary Behind These Walls (2010). In 2015 she shot her first feature film Personal Affairs which was selected in 2016 Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection “Un Certain Regard” and critically acclaimed. The film also won the Haifa Film Festival’s Best Feature Award in 2016 and the Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier’s Critics’ Award, among others.

A delicate balance between comedy and darker drama throughout

A mixture of comedy, thriller and character study.

In Haifa, an unlikely friendship between two neighbours is the basis of a new exploration of masculinity and mental illness.

A black comedy full of surprises