In the few upcoming weeks and throughout November, Jordanian-Palestinian director Mais Darwazah's My Love Awaits Me by the Sea will be taking part in 7 international film festivals worldwide across Sweden, Taiwan, Canada, Argentina, USA and Brazil.

The tour blasted off in Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden, which took place in the city of Malmo and other 3 Swedish cities. Representing one of the preeminent cultural platforms for Arabs in Scandinavian countries, the festival's main objective is to promote understanding and cultural exchange between the Arabic-speaking and other ethnic groups in Sweden through the screening of films from across the Arab world. The festival showcases nearly 100 Arabic films from 30 foreign and Arab countries.

Simultaneously, My Love Awaits by the Sea is taking part in CNEX Taipei
Documentary Film Festival, which came to a close on October 5th, 2014. The film has been selected as this year's theme "Dissolution & Restoration of Love", where many of the films featured show touching stories about hardship and love. This comes concurrently with its screening at the closing ceremony of Toronto Palestinian Film Festival, which closed on October 3rd, 2014.

The film then travels ahead to Latin America to be part of the 5th CineMigrantre International Film Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which runs from
October 7 - 15, 2014. The festival, first launched in 2010, aims at promoting intercultural dialogue and integration of the cultures of the different regions through cinematographic works that portray the social reality of those who, for various reasons, have had to migrate and inhabit other territories. My Love Awaits Me By the Sea will also take part at the Latin Arab Film Festival in Brazil.

In mid-October,My Love Awaits by the Sea continues its booming tour de force by being showcased in two film fests in USA, includingTwin Cities Arab Film Festival, which is held under the auspices of Mizna and runs from October 16-25, 2014, in Minnesota, USA. The film will be part of Boston Palestine Film Festival, which runs from October 17-26. Focusing on Arab cinema, the festival introduces Palestinian feature films, documentaries and rare works from the rich Palestinian film archive.

My Love Awaits Me by the Sea is Mais Darwazah's first feature-length documentary which is inspired by the artist and writer Hasan Hourani's wondrous reveries, this poetic, first-person essay chronicles filmmaker Mais Darwazah's
first-ever visit to her homeland, Palestine.

Fairytale and reality are woven together to ask the question of "How do you return to a place that only exists in your mind?", "How do you keep fighting for life when you're surrounded by so much death?", "How can you continue believing in a dream when the outside world lives another reality?" And "how can you own your version of the truth when history has taken it from you?"

My Love Awaits Me by the Sea pays tribute to Hassan Hourani, a Palestinian artist who, with his imagination, rises above the Israeli Occupation. Hourani completed 'Hassan is Everywhere', a children's book of illustration and poetry, just before his tragic death by drowning in the forbidden sea of Jaffa in 2003.

Since its release, My Love Awaits Me By the Sea was part of several film festivals across the world and garnered manifold awards including the Special Jury Award for Best Feature-length documentary from the 17th Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentary and Shorts; the Best Documentary Award at
MedFilm Festival, within the International Section; Golden Linx Award for Best Feature Documentary from New Directors New Films Festival in Portugal in June,2014; Grand Prize in the International Section of Femina: Festival Internacional de Cinema Feminino in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in addition to contending for Best Feature-length Documentary at the Official Competition of
Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane, Australia.


My Love Awaits by the Sea festival participations worldwide include:

- World premiere at Toronto International Film Festival in September, 2014, within Discovery Talents Section.

- European premiere at Copenhagen International Documentary Festival in November, 2013.

- Arab Premiere at the 10th Dubai International Film Festival in December, 2013, where the film competed for the Muhr Arab Documentary awards.

- Sweden premiere at Tempo Documentary Festival, where the film competed for the International Stephen Jarl Award for the Best Documentary in March, 2013 UK premiere at East End Film Festival in London in June, 2014.

- Competed in the Official Competition at the 9th L'Europe Autour de L'Europe Festival, which closed in April, 2014.

- Madrid Palestine Film Festival in October, 2013, which is held in collaboration with Spanish Volunteer Group Handala and Center for Palestine Studies, Middle East Institute, Columbia University.

- Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania in June, 2014.

- Screened at the 7th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala in India, within Focus on the Middle East Section in July, 2014.

- Istanbul International Film Festival, as part of the Human Rights in Cinema section

- Cologne International Women's Film Festival

- PLANETE+DOC Festival in Warsaw, Poland

- Flying Broom Festival in Ankara, Turkey

- Human Rights Arts and Film Festival in Australia

- FIDADOC: Agadir International Documentary Festival Sarajevo Film Festival in August, 2014

- The 2014 Arab Film Festival in Busan, South Korea, within the 7th Arab Cultural Festival, organized by the Korea-Arab Society.

- Cairo International Women's Film Festival in November, 2013.

- London Palestine Film Festival, organized by the Palestine Film Foundation.

My Love Awaits Me by the Sea A Feature-Length Documentary

Director/Author: Mais Darwazah
Producer: Rula Nasser (The Imaginarium Films)
Co-producer: Michel Balague (Mengamuk Films)
Creative Consultant: Hala Alabdalla
Cinematographer: Arlette Girardot, Joude Gorani
Editor: Vartan Avakian
Composer: Cynthia Zaven
Country: Jordan, Germany, Palestine and Qatar
Year: 2013
Language: Arabic dialogue with English subtitles
Colour
Running time: 80 min

Supported byThe Arab Fund for Arts & Culture, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Doha Film Institute, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program & Fund and Symbiosis Designs. In association with Screen Institute Beirut and with the participation of SANAD (The Development Fund of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, United Arab Emirates). With the support of Makan Art Space, Royal Film Commission - Jordan, A.M. Qattan Foundation, Safar Fund, Beirut DC, Berlinale Talent Campus.

About the Director | Having worked across the Middle East in architecture, graphic design and television documentaries, Mais Darwazah's independent film career started by making short experimental films; It Wasn't a Question of Olives (1', 2001), The Human Puppet (10', 2005), Still Waiting (3', 2007) and Aisha'sJourney (8', 2009). After finishing her undergraduate degree in Interior Architecture from Kingston University (UK, 1997), she received the Chevening scholarship from the British Council, completing an MA in Documentary Directing at Edinburgh College of Art (UK, 2007). Her graduation film Take Me Home (54', 2008), was screened in more than 20 international film festivals. As part of an Arab feature documentary collective entitled Family Albums she completed The Dinner (25', 2012), which was co-produced with ARTE France and received the Special Mention audience award at Cinemed, 2012. She works and resides in Jordan.

About the Producer | The Imaginarium Films is a Jordanian production company established by Rula Nasser in 2010 with a vision to develop and produce and Arabic appealing content. Nasser's involvement in the film industry started 1999, working on several productions for BBC and The discovery channel, as well as the well-known Australian television series "Survivor", she Joined the Royal Film Commission of Jordan and worked with them for five years on their Filmmaker's Support Program.
Having built this vast experience in various areas of production enabled Nasser to produce more than four features in the last two years, which have participated in several prestigious festivals around the world. The Last Friday was the first Jordanian film to screen at Berlinale 2011 and Waiting for P.O.Box was in the
official competition in the Cannes short International Film competition
2012.She was chosen by Variety magazine in 2012, as one of the Top Ten Arab producers to watch.