Mediterranean Fever
Maha Haj | Palestine, Germany, France, Cyprus, Qatar | 2022 | 108'
Screenings
Mon 20 March H 19:00
Mon 20 March H 18:00
With Erige Sehiri (director of Under the Fig Trees and International Jury member) and Maha Haj (director of Mediterranean Fever)
Section
Original title
Mediterranean Fever
Synopsis
A black comedy. Waleed lives in Haifa and dreams of a career as a writer but suffers from chronic depression. This condition of psychological distress also reflects the difficulty of living as a Palestinian in Israel. His encounter with Jalal, a friendly and mysterious neighbour, with whom Waleed initially feels totally in disagreement, is transformed into an unexpected friendship. Waleed thinks that Jalal can help him find the inspiration for his novel, but this friendship will lead them both to be lost in their darkest places.
Cast
Amer Hlehel, Ashraf Farah, Anat Hadid, Samir Elias, Cynthia Saleem, Shaden Kanboura
Films Distribution
Trent Film (Italia)
Production
Majdal Films, Pallas Film, Still Moving, Amp Filmworks, Metafora Production
Editing
Maha Haj
Cinematography
Antoine Héberlé
Editing
Véronique Lange
Language
Arabic
Subtitles
English, Italian
Premiere
Italian premiere
Main awards
Best Screenplay (Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2022)
Biography
Maha Haj was born in Nazareth in 1970. She was the set designer on the films The time that remains by E. Suleiman, The Attack by Z. Douairi and On the Hill by R. Nadjari. In 2009, she wrote and directed the short film Oranges and in 2010 the documentary Behind These Walls. In 2016 her first feature film, Personal Affairs, was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. The prizes awarded to the film include the prize for the best film at the Haifa Film Festival and the critics’ prize at the Festival international du cinéma méditerranéen of Montpellier.
Filmography
2022– Mediterranean Fever, ff
2016 – Personal Affairs, ff
2014 – Personal Matters, sf
2010 – Behind the Walls, sf
2009 – Orange, sf