Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan’s family drama film CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA held its world premiere in the Spotlight section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Monday, September 7th, drawing a packed house and resounding applause from audiences and critics alike.
 
In attendance were director Muayad Alayan, producer and co-screenwriter Rami Alayan, and cast members Kamel El Basha, Amer Hlehel, and Bahira Ablassi, who joined audiences and industry professionals in celebrating the film’s debut.
 
Following its triumphant Venice premiere, the film will next travel across the Atlantic for its North American premiere in the Centerpiece section of the 51st Toronto International Film Festival (September 10th–20th).
 
Set in Jerusalem, the film follows Kamal, a 60-year-old Palestinian man, who is ordered by an Israeli court to pay a large social security debt allegedly owed by his son Wael. But Wael drowned in the Red Sea decades ago. When no official record of his death can be found, Kamal follows the only remaining lead to uncover what happened to his son.
 
Written and directed by Muayad Alayan, with a screenplay co-written with Rami Alayan, the film stars Kamel El Basha, who gained critical acclaim in 2017 when he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor during the 74th Venice International Film Festival for his role as ‘Yasser Abdallah Salameh’ in THE INSULT by the Lebanese film director Ziad Doueiri and for starring as ‘Youssef’ in the Disney UK original series CULPRITS. He also has a handful of film credits, including HAMZA, CURFEW, OUR MALES AND FEMALES, and AN ORANGE FROM JAFFA, which gained critical acclaim, nominations, and awards from festivals around the world.
 
Joining him are Amer Hlehel (THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB), Ruba Blal (SAND STORM), Haitham Omari (BETHLEHEM), Bahira Ablassi (HAIFA), Maria Zreik (ALL THAT'S LEFT OF YOU), Rebecca Esmeralda Telhami (AMAL), and Ebla Mari (THE OLD OAK).
 
A co-production involving Palestine, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, the film is lensed by Lorenzo Casadio Vannucci, edited by Matteo Faccenda, and scored by Fabienne Van Eck. It’s produced by PalCine Productions (Muayad Alayan and Rami Alayan) and co-produced by KeyFilm, Red Sea Fund, and Metafora Production. MAD World, the film sales arm of pan‑Arab indie studio MAD Solutions, handles the worldwide rights to the film, excluding Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
 
In terms of funding, the film received support from the Hubert Bals Fund, the Netherlands Film Fund, the Doha Film Institute, and the Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art.
 
Muayad Alayan is a Palestinian film director and producer whose award-winning work has been distributed globally, featured at prominent festivals, and seen by audiences all over the world.
 
His directorial debut, LOVE, THEFT AND OTHER ENTANGLEMENTS, premiered in Panorama at the Berlinale in 2015. His second feature film, THE REPORTS ON SARAH AND SALEEM, won the Special Jury Prize of the Rotterdam Hivos Tiger Competition and the Hubert Bals Audience Award. It won top prizes at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Durban International Film Festival and has been distributed in over 50 territories.
 
Alayan’s first narrative short, LESH SABREEN?, premiered in competition at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in 2009. His third feature, A HOUSE IN JERUSALEM, premiered in Rotterdam and was nominated for the UNESCO Gandhi Medal and for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and was acquired by Netflix for MENA.