HIWAR MA' ALBAHR
Palestine, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Qatar
2026 | 113 min. | Fiction

In Jerusalem, Kamal, a 60-year-old Palestinian man, 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.

Directed by: Muayad Alayan
Written by: Muayad Alayan, Rami Alayan
Produced by: Muayad Alayan, Rami Alayan, Hanneke Niens
Cinematography: Lorenzo Casadio Vannucci
Editing: Matteo Faccenda
Production Design: Ala' Abu Ghoush
Costume Design: Hamada Atallah
Make-Up & Hair: Mervat Hakroush
Original Score: Fabienne Van Eck
Sound: Mohammed Shalodi, Stelios Koupetoris, Kostas Fylaktidis
Visual Effects: Randy Roemeon, Juri Keuter
Casting: Salim Abu Jabal
Cast: Kamel El Basha (Kamal), Amer Hlehel (Fathi), Maria Zreik (Bisan), Rebecca Esmeralda Telhami (Einat)

Statement of the director:
The inciting incident in CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA is inspired by true and personal family events. Everything else, although fictional, represents different shades of the reality of my reflections on the complex, suffocating, and yet enriching life in Jerusalem.

Growing up in Jerusalem was not easy, but it was a very rich experience that did a lot in shaping my view on life and on the world around me.

Jerusalem is haunted with fear. You encounter soldiers and armed settlers on a daily basis. Home demolitions and home evacuations are a daily scene in the holy city. People around you are constantly getting arrested, injured, and killed. The environment is designed to guarantee the repeating cycles of violence and fear.

However, as dark as life here is, everyone has to go on living, loving, breathing, searching for happiness, securing an income, and finding something to look forward to.

This everyday life of average Palestinians, anti-heroes, living under occupation in the segregated story world of Jerusalem has been the center of several works of mine, and it is also the center stage in CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA.

At the heart of the film lies a love story about family and about our human capacity to confront our guilt, pain, and our flaws.

At the heart of the film as well lies a love-and-hate letter to my only home and my only city. Nostalgia for what it used to be and grief over what it’s being forced to become.

Production:
PalCine Productions
http://palcine.com/

World Sales:
MAD World
https://www.madworld.film/