Personal Affairs   

In presence of the director.

Director: Maha Haj

Israel 2016, 90 minutes, Arabic, SUBS 

Many years of marriage and their children leaving the house, lead a couple of parents in Nazareth to communicate solely through their far off children. Their son, Tarek, wants to remain an eternal bachelor, but Maisa, his temperamental and unofficial girlfriend, has other plans. The couple’s assertive daughter tries to manage everyone’s lives and her husband dreams of far off places. The senile grandmother with an extreme and dangerous sweet tooth tries to run away just like the rest of them, but she has nowhere to go. Amusing pieces of life interwoven between blockades and dreams, debauchery and politics, some want to leave, some to stay, but everyone has interpersonal issues to work out. This magical comic drama portrays an invasive and humorous glimpse of universal anecdotes in Palestinian family life.

This is the director, scriptwriter and artistic director, Maha Haj’s debut film. The world premiere of the film was part of the Un Certain Regard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Maha Haj portrays an invasive and humorous glimpse into universal anecdotes of family life with hints to the heavy political situation in our area.

Winner of Best Film Award at the Haifa Film Festival; Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival; Critics Award at the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival, France; Best Debut Film at the Philadelphia Film Festival, USA.

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Director and Scriptwriter: Maha Haj/ Producer: Baher Agbariya/ Co-Producers: Ehab Assal, Munther Haj/ Cinematography: Elad Debi/ Editing: Véronique Lange/ Actors: Amer Hlehel, Doraid Liddawi, Mahmoud Shawahdeh

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Screened as part of the 50:50 Project by Mifal Hapais, marking 50 years of women filmmaking in Israel.