Muayad Alayan’s Palestinian family drama is shortlisted for the 39th European Film Awards.
 
Following its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan’s family drama CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA continues its international festival journey.
 
The film is the only Arab title on the Fiction Shortlist for the 39th European Film Awards, and will have its MENA premiere in the International Feature Competition at Doha Film Festival 2026.
 
Set in Jerusalem, CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA follows Kamal, a 60-year-old Palestinian man ordered by an Israeli court to pay a large social security debt allegedly owed by his son, Wael. But as far as Kamal knows, Wael drowned in the Red Sea decades ago. When Kamal discovers that the authorities have no official record of his son’s death, he follows the only remaining lead in a journey to uncover the truth and find out what happened to Wael.
 
Written and produced by Muayad Alayan and Rami Alayan, and directed by Muayad Alayan, the film stars Kamel El Basha. In 2017, El Basha won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice International Film Festival for his performance in Ziad Doueiri’s THE INSULT. He also appeared in Disney UK’s original series CULPRITS. His film credits include HAMZA, CURFEW, OUR MALES AND FEMALES and AN ORANGE FROM JAFFA. The cast also includes Amer Hlehel, Ruba Blal, Haitham Omari, Bahira Ablassi, Maria Zreik, Rebecca Esmeralda Telhami and Ebla Mari.
 
A co-production between Palestine, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA was shot by Lorenzo Casadio Vannucci, edited by Matteo Faccenda, with sound by Mohammad Shaloudi and music by Fabienne van Eck. The film is produced by PalCine Productions (Muayad Alayan and Rami Alayan), with KeyFilm, Red Sea Fund and Metafora Production as co-producers. MAD Distribution handles distribution in the Arab world, while MAD World handles international sales, excluding Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The film received support from the Hubert Bals Fund, the Netherlands Film Fund, the Red Sea Fund and the Doha Film Institute.
 
Muayad Alayan is a Palestinian film director, writer and producer whose work has screened and received awards at festivals around the world. His feature debut, LOVE, THEFT AND OTHER ENTANGLEMENTS, premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale in 2015. THE REPORTS ON SARAH AND SALEEM won the Special Jury Prize and Hubert Bals Audience Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, as well as awards at the Seattle and Durban international film festivals, and was distributed in more than 50 territories. His third feature, A HOUSE IN JERUSALEM (2023), premiered in Rotterdam, was nominated for the UNESCO Gandhi Medal and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and was acquired by Netflix for MENA.