Log Line

An aspiring but depressed writer from Haifa befriends his new neighbour in an attempt to convince the man to help him realise a sinister scheme of his.

Short 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.

Festivals / Awards

World Premiere: Official Selection (Un Certain Regard) 75th Cannes Film Festival - Best Screenplay

68th Sydney International Film Festival: Feature Section

70th 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)

Cyprus Film Days (2023)

Credits

Director: Maha Haj

Screenplay: Maha Haj

Producers: Baher Agbariya, Thanassis Karathanos, Martin Hampel, Juliette Lepoutre, Pierre Menahem, Marios Piperides, Janine Teerling

Director of Photography: Antoine Héberlé

Production Design: Andreas Antoniou

Editor: Véronique Lange

Music: Munder Odeh

Costumes: Hamada Attalah

CAST

Amer Hlehel,

Ashraf Farah,

Anat Hadid,

Samir Elias,

Cynthia Saleem,

Shaden Kanboura 

Director's Bio/Filmography

Maha Haj was born in Nazareth 1970. She is a graduate of 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, and in the film "On the Hill” by Rafael Natjari. She wrote and directed the short film "Oranges" (2009) & “Behind these Walls” documentary (2010)

In 2016 she came out with her 1st feature film “Personal Affairs” which was widely acclaimed and selected to the “Un Certain Regard” official selection of Cannes film festival 2016.

Technical details

Original title: Mediterranean Fever

International title: Mediterranean Fever

Duration: 108

Aspect Ratio:

Format: 2K

Sound: Dolby Digital

Year: 2022

Original Language: Arabic

Countries of Production: Germany, Cyprus, France and Palestine

Production Companies: Pallas Film, AMP Filmworks, Still Moving Majdal Films

In association with Metafora Production

With support of: Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus,  MDM-Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Ile de France, Metafora Production, Eurimages

WORLD SALES

Luxbox Films