Maha Haj
مها الحاج
Born: Nazareth, Israel
Domain: Film & Television
Recognition: REGIONAL
Biography
Maha Haj is a Palestinian filmmaker and screenwriter whose understated, finely observed dramas have twice been selected for the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. Born in Nazareth, she studied English and Arabic literature before entering cinema, working initially as an art director and assistant on films including productions by Elia Suleiman, an experience that shaped her precise, deadpan visual sensibility. Her debut feature, "Personal Affairs" (2016), follows an aging Palestinian couple in Nazareth and their dispersed children, weaving together stories across Ramallah, Sweden, and the diaspora. The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, a rare distinction for a first-time Palestinian woman director, and was selected as Palestine's submission for the Academy Awards. Haj returned to Cannes with "Mediterranean Fever" (2022), a darkly comic drama about a depressed aspiring writer in Haifa who befriends a small-time criminal neighbor. The film won the Best Screenplay award in the Un Certain Regard section, confirming Haj as one of the most accomplished writers in contemporary Palestinian cinema. Her films are distinguished by dry humor, emotional restraint, and an interest in the quiet interior lives of ordinary Palestinians, exploring depression, family, and the psychic weight of living under occupation without resorting to overt political polemic. Haj has become a prominent figure in Palestinian and Arab cinema, her consecutive Cannes selections marking her as a leading voice among the women redefining Palestinian narrative film.
Why This Person Matters
Haj is a two-time Cannes official selection and Best Screenplay winner whose restrained, darkly comic dramas place her among the leading Palestinian filmmakers of her generation.