Maha Haj was born in Nazareth in 1970. She graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in English and Arabic literature. Her cinematic experience was derived from her work as an artistic designer on the production of The Time That Remains by Elia Suleiman, The Attack by Ziad Douairi, as well as On the Hill by Rafael Natjari.

She wrote and directed the short film Oranges (2009) and the documentary Behind These Walls (2010). In 2015 she shot her first feature film Personal Affairs which was selected in 2016 Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection Un Certain Regard and critically acclaimed. The film also won the Haifa Film Festival’s Best Feature Award in 2016 and the Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier’s Critics’ Award, among others. Mediterranean Fever, her second feature, won the Best Screenplay award in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival last year.