Mediterranean Fever (film)

Mediterranean Fever is a 2022 internationally co-produced black comedy-drama film directed by Maha Haj, starring Amer Hlehel, Ashraf Farah, Anat Hadid, Samir Elias and Cynthia Saleem.

Mediterranean Fever
Cannes release poster
Directed by	Maha Haj
Written by	Maha Haj
Produced by	Baher Agbariya Thanassis Karathanos Martin Hampel Juliette Lepoutre Pierre Menahem Marios Piperides Janine Teerling
Starring	Amer Hlehel Ashraf Farah Anat Hadid Samir Elias Cynthia Saleem
Cinematography	Antoine Héberlé
Edited by	Véronique Lange
Music by	Munder Odeh
Production companies	Majdal Films Pallas Film Still Moving Amp Filmworks
Release date	25 May 2022 (2022-05-25) (Cannes Film Festival)
Running time	108 minutes
Countries	Germany France Cyprus Palestine Qatar

Cast

• Amer Hlehel as Waleed
• Ashraf Farah as Jalal
• Anat Hadid as Ola
• Samir Elias
• Cynthia Saleem
• Shaden Kanboura

Release

The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival on 25 May 2022, where it won the best screenplay award.

Reception

Kaleem Aftab of Cineuropa called it a "refreshing look at the region's political turmoil with a lovely friendship at its heart."

Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Haj "builds the story up with small jenga blocks of humor and well-observed vignettes, so soft and gentle that it’s barely noticeable when the tower starts to teeter with dread as the stakes get higher and the threat of violence more distinct."

Tim Grierson of Screen Daily wrote that the "slim" tale is "elevated" by the performances of Hlehel and Farah, "ably portraying men each dealing with secret struggles they can’t always articulate."

External links

• Mediterranean Fever at IMDb
• Mediterranean Fever at Rotten Tomatoes