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Haleva

Nafen is a well educated 25 years old woman who works as an architect. She has a list of things she want to do befor getting 30 year old, one of them is to make a food called Haleva.
She got a visit from her fiance and his mother so she decided to take the chance and make that Haleva, but the problem is that she has to finish one of the biggest projects of her career at the same time.

  • Jahja Alkhatib
    Director
  • Jahja Alkhatib
    Writer
  • Jahja Alkhatib
    Producer
  • Tulay Bchmaf
    Key Cast
    "Nafen"
  • Huda Deir
    Key Cast
    "Nafen (v.o.)"
  • Heba Alkhatib
    Key Cast
    "Simaza"
  • Srmad Doughouz
    Key Cast
    "Anzur"
  • Nazek Deir
    Key Cast
    "Emmi"
    The Mother
  • Linn Alkhatib
    Key Cast
    "Sibsa "
  • Sina Huazheva
    Key Cast
    "Sibsa (v.o.)"
  • Tambi Der
    Music
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    хьэлжъо
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 9, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Sweden
  • Country of Filming:
    Sweden
  • Language:
    Mongolian
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.4:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Jahja Al khatib
Distribution Information
  • Jahja Al khatib
    Distributor
Director Biography - Jahja Alkhatib

Prior to being a professional director and photographer, Jahja had an academic background in painting and artistic photography and had worked as a photographer in Damascus, Syria.

In 2012 Jahja started his career in the cinema business as a still photographer during the making of  “The king of the sands” movie. As the making of the movie was finished he moved to Cairo, Egypt to further his knowledge and involvement in the film industry.

In late 2013 Jahja partnered with Syrian director Mahmoud Hasan and made a documentary ”Message from under the water” about the violation of human rights in the Egyptian prison when the police arrested Syrian refugees and their families for many months without a trial.

In 2014 Jahja moved to Sweden and started to work as a filmmaker at the production company Poz Media in Ljungby.
Jahja has since then continued to pursue his passion for filmmaking and has freelanced many short documentaries and short films. Currently, he is directing a horror movie ”Our Last Summer in Sweden” written by Boia Yousfi and produced by Green Pine Productions. 

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As a father of three daughters, it is always important for me to keep my daughters motivated and full of self confidence. And when I met Tulay and she expressed her wishes to play a role that defends women's rights, I decided to take the chance to write and make this film.

The film is about modern women’s perseverance, Nafen is a woman who works as an architect and has a list of things she wants to do before turning 30 years old.
One day she leaves the office early to make one of the things on her list: to prepare a special meal from the local cuisine called “Haleva '' with a very limited time before her fiancé and his mother come to visit her.

But she also leaves a big project in the office to her colleague to finalise. Then things get complicated when she doesn't find all the ingredients in her refrigerator and then her colleague misses up in the office.
The only thing that lifted her up from this situation was her closest friends who believed in her and were ready to jump in and help her.

The story of the film was inspired by the movie “LOCKE” for Ivan Locke featuring Tom Hardy.
Throughout the whole film, we see only Nafen the lead character and we only hear the other actors' voices when she calls them over the phone, and this is supposed to deliver the feeling of loneliness which is the normal case when someone tries to make dreams.