Maha Haj was born in Nazareth in 1970. She was the set designer on the films The time that remains by E. Suleiman, The Attack by Z. Douairi and On the Hill by R. Nadjari. In 2009, she wrote and directed the short film Oranges and in 2010 the documentary Behind These Walls. In 2016 her first feature film, Personal Affairs, was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. The prizes awarded to the film include the prize for the best film at the Haifa Film Festival and the critics’ prize at the Festival international du cinéma méditerranéen of Montpellier.