Born in Nazareth, Maha Haj holds a BA in English literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MA in Arabic literature.
She kicked off her filmmaking career working as an artistic designer on THE TIME THAT REMAINS by Elia Suleiman, THE ATTACK by Ziad Douairi, and ON THE HILL by Rafael Natjari.
Besides that, Maha wrote and directed the short film ORANGES (2009) and the documentary BEHIND THESE WALLS (2010).
In 2015, she got her first big break with her first feature film, PERSONAL AFFAIRS, which premiered to critical acclaim in 2016 as part of the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. The film went on to screen at film festivals, winning numerous awards, including the Best Feature Award at the Haifa Film Festival and the Critics’ Award at the International Mediterranean Film Festival Montpellier (Cinémed).
Years later, in 2022, her film MEDITERRANEAN FEVER won the Best Screenplay Prize at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section.