"Mediterranean Fever" opens the 13th Malmö Arab Film Festival

Malmo – March 30, 2023

Malmo Arab Film Festival (MAFF) announced the selection of the film “Mediterranean Fever” by Palestinian director Maha Haj as the opening film for the festival’s 13th edition, which will take place from April 28th to May 4th.

The film was written and directed by Maha Haj, a Palestinian German French Cypris co-production, Starred by Amer Hlehel, Ashraf Farah, Anat Hadid, Samir Elias. In “Mediterranean Fever”, 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.

The world premiere of “Mediterranean Fever” took place last May in Cannes international film festival, Un Certain Regard competition, where it won the best screenplay award. Then, it started a successful trip between many festivals including Chicago, Sarajevo, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo.

Founder and President of the Malmö Festival, Muhammad Keblawi, spoke about the selection of the opening film, saying: “Palestinian cinema has never been absent from Malmö Arab Film Festival, but it is the first time that we open the festival with a Palestinian film, as we found in Maha Haj’s film all the features of an impressive cinematic achievement, and we are sure Malmö audience will enjoy a tale that has thrilled viewers all over the world”.