Maha Haj
Directing
Biography
Maha Haj (Arabic: مها حاج; born in 1970; Nazareth) is a Palestinian filmmaker. Haj was born in Nazareth. She was educated in the Baptist Christian school in Nazareth, though both her parents were communist activists. Under her father's influence she began studying pharmacy science, but after year switched to literature, and completed her BA in English and Arabic literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and her MA in language and literature at Haifa University. She began working as a teacher, but was more interested in her art and writing, which she practiced in her free time. She began her cinematic career working as an set designer, script doctor, and art director on such films as Elia Suleiman's The Time That Remains (2009), Ziad Doueiri's The Attack (2012); followed by Adi Adouan's Arabani (2014) and Rafael Najari's Over the HIlltop (2014). In 2009, she wrote and directed the short film Burtuqal, which was released to critical acclaim, and was screened at many international film festivals, and then the documentary film Within These Walls (2010). She achieved international recognition in 2016 with her film Personal Affairs, which had its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, in the Un Certain Regard section. She both wrote and directed the film, which won Best Feature Film at the Haifa International Film Festival. In their reasoning, the judges wrote: "It is a creation that is entirely love of humankind, fluent and funny, captivating and kindhearted, a contemporary human mosaic, both local and universal." Haj has been outspoken about the difficulties she has faced getting backing for films as a Palestinian. Former culture minister Limor Livnat created regulations according to which films receiving public funds must be presented as strictly Israeli, not as Palestinian-Israeli, causing filmmakers like Haj, who is both Palestinian and an Israeli citizen, politically and ethically.
Known For
Filmmaker Elia Suleiman travels to different cities and finds unexpected parallels to his homeland of Palestine.
It Must Be Heaven
An examination of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 through to the present day. A semi-biographic film, in four chapters, about a family spanning from 1948 until recent times. Combined with intimate memories of each member, the film attempts to portray the daily life of those Palestinians who remained in their land and were labelled "Israeli-Arabs," living as a minority in their own homeland.
The Time That Remains
An Arab surgeon living in Tel Aviv discovers a dark secret about his wife in the aftermath of a suicide bombing.
The Attack
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.
Mediterranean Fever
Shaul (Uri Pepper), the film’s protagonist, a solitary divorced man, tries to overcome his difficult emotional state. He goes to see his father Shimon (Moni Moshonov) in Haifa and confronts him, blaming his father for all his current woes. Shimon and his partner Betty (Michaela Eshet), try to help Shaul with alternative methods, using stones with magical attributes and therapeutic oils. With their help, Shaul becomes much more optimistic…
A Strange Course Of Events
In Nazareth, an old couple lives wearily to the rhythm of the daily routine. On the other side of the border, in Ramallah, their son Tarek wishes to remain an eternal bachelor, their daughter is about to give birth while her husband lands a movie role and the grandmother loses her head... Between check-points and dreams, frivolity and politics, some want to leave, others want to stay but all have personal affairs to resolve.
Personal Affairs
Suleiman and Mona are a couple who lead a solitary life in which they care for animals and trees and have constant heated discussions about their children’s life choices. However, one day, their routine is disturbed when a stranger shows around, calling to mind a painful past.
Upshot
After being estranged from his Druze village and family for 17 years, Yoseph returns with his two Israeli, teenage children. His marriage to a Jewish Israeli woman has just ended and he plans to settle down there. His arrival causes friction inside the closed, conservative Druze community and also with his mother Afifa, who accepts him and his children as part of her family again.
Arabani
Despite the harsh reality of occupation, a young couple from Ramallah find ways of crossing conventional boundaries and celebrate life even under the most dreadful conditions.
Personal Matters
An old man, a young man, and an orange tree Two neighbours, a garden, and no words exchanged What happens when interests clash and lines are crossed?
Oranges
No description available.
Within These Walls
Yazan is a Palestinian filmmaker, born and raised in a Syrian refugee camp. When he gets a residency in Paris to write his first feature, it’s a dream come true at the worst time: he is grieving his grandmother’s death in Aleppo, crushed by self-doubt, and heartbroken. Longing to make his first film, he finds himself emotionally blocked, haunted by trauma and survivor’s guilt. Alone in this beautiful city, pressured to prove himself, he spirals between inspiration and despair. In a desperate attempt to reconnect, he invites fellow international filmmakers from the residency to read his script. What begins as a creative exercise turns into a chaotic, funny, and revealing encounter.