- Palestine
MEDITERRANEAN FEVER
Synopsis
Waleed (Amer Hlehel) is forty, lives with his wife and children in Haifa, and wants to become a writer. But chronic depression settles over everything: he does not write, and he can barely stand his own family. Then Jalal (Ashraf Farah), a petty criminal, moves in next door. Waleed seeks the neighbour’s company – with an ulterior motive he tells no one. Against every intention, the calculation turns into a friendship, and it leads the two men on a journey through dark encounters. “Mediterranean Fever” by Maha Haj (Palestine, 2022) is a black comedy about two men, each carrying a secret, and about the life of Palestinians in Haifa, which is barely ever spoken of politically in everyday life.
Palestinian director Maha Haj builds the humour in small pieces that gradually shift into darkness; politics remains in the background, male vulnerability in the foreground. Arabic, Hebrew and English alternate as a matter of course. Shot in co-production with Germany, France, Cyprus and Qatar, 108 minutes. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes in 2022, where Haj received the award for best screenplay. “Mediterranean Fever” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2022.
Festival
Shown at the 2022 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.
