muayad alayan’s conversation with the sea receives strong reception at toronto international film festival

Following its acclaimed world premiere at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan’s CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA continued its international festival journey with a successful North American premiere in the Centerpiece section of the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, where the film received a warm response and strong applause from audiences.

The Toronto screening was attended by director Muayad Alayan, producer and co-screenwriter Rami Alayan, and acclaimed Palestinian actor Kamel El Basha, who joined Toronto audiences and festivalgoers for the film’s North American debut.

The screening marks the film’s second major international festival premiere following its world premiere in the Spotlight section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where it also received a strong response from audiences and festival attendees.

Set in Jerusalem, CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA 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 Kamal discovers that there is no official record confirming his son’s death, he follows the only remaining lead in an attempt to uncover what happened to Wael.

Written and directed by Muayad Alayan, with a screenplay co-written with Rami Alayan, the film stars Kamel El Basha, Amer Hlehel, Bahira Ablassi, Maria Zreik, Ruba Blal, Haitham Omari, Rebecca Esmeralda Telhami, and Ebla Mari.

The film is a co-production between Palestine, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. It is produced by PalCine Productions (Muayad Alayan and Rami Alayan), with KeyFilm, the Red Sea Fund, and Metafora Production as co-producers.

MAD Distribution handles distribution in the Arab world, while MAD World, the international sales arm of MAD Solutions, handles worldwide 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.

CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA marks the fourth collaboration between Muayad Alayan and MAD following LOVE, THEFT AND OTHER ENTANGLEMENTS, THE REPORTS ON SARAH AND SALEEM, and A HOUSE IN JERUSALEM.

Muayad Alayan is a Palestinian filmmaker whose award-winning work has screened at major international festivals and reached audiences around the world.

His directorial debut, LOVE, THEFT AND OTHER ENTANGLEMENTS, premiered in Panorama at the Berlinale in 2015. His second feature, THE REPORTS ON SARAH AND SALEEM, won the Special Jury Prize of the Rotterdam Hivos Tiger Competition and the Hubert Bals Audience Award. It also won top prizes at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Durban International Film Festival and was distributed in more than 50 territories.

His short film LESH SABREEN? premiered in competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2009. His third feature, A HOUSE IN JERUSALEM, premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and was nominated for the UNESCO Gandhi Medal and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The film was also acquired by Netflix for the MENA region.

Alongside his filmmaking career, Alayan has worked with youth and community organizations to promote film culture in Palestine and has taught directing and cinematography. He is a member of the European Film Academy and has served on juries for several international film festivals and film funds.