Abu Wael first came to international prominence when his 2004 feature debut, "Atash" (Thirst), won the Fipresci Prize at Cannes. Almost totally devoid of contemporary political references, the beautifully shot feature was about a Palestinian family living in the Israeli Arab town of Um Fahm. Abu Wael, who first caused a stir with his controversial doc "Diary of a Male Whore," is currently working on his sophomore feature, said to be a loose adaptation of Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani's classic novel "Return to Haifa."
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