Cyprus Film Days 2023|Mediterranean Fever

Synopsis
Forty-year-old Waleed 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 neighbour, 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.

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 Remains 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 ‘Un Certain Regard’ and received critical acclaim. 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.

108', 2022 | Germany, France, Cyprus, Palestine, Qatar

Directed by Maha Haj
Screenplay Maha Haj
Cinematography Antoine Héberlé
Editing Véronique Lange
Production design Andreas Antoniou
Costume design Hamada Attalah
Music Munder Odeh
Cast Amer Hlehel, Ashraf Farah, Anat Hadid, Samir Elias, Cynthia Saleem, Shaden Kanboura
Producers Baher Aghbariya, Thanassis Karathanos, Martin Hampel, Juliette Lepoutre, Pierre Menahem, Marios Piperides, Janine Teerling
Production companies Pallas Film, Stilll Moving, AMP Filmworks, Majdal Films
Co-production companies Metafora Production

Filmography
2022 Mediterranean Fever
2016 Personal Affairs
2010 Behind These Walls (documentary)

Awards
Best Screenplay Prize - Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival, France, 2022. Official Submission - International Feature Film, 95th Academy Awards, USA, 2022. Firebird Award - Official Competition, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong, 2022.

Tickets: €5