One of Jordan’s biggest entertainment events, the
Amman International Film Festival - Awal Film, kicks off on Wednesday. It will
showcase a series of promising directors’ latest films, host celebrities, and
provide an opportunity for cinephiles to enjoy culturally relevant films over
the span of a week, from July 20–27.
اضافة اعلان
In total, 52 films from 29 countries will be screened,
including Arab and international feature-length narratives, documentaries, and
short films. The unique selection will offer viewers the opportunity to watch movies
that might not make it to commercial theatres in Jordan.
Films will be screened at three venues: a drive-in cinema at
Abdali Boulevard, Taj Cinemas, and the
Royal Film Commission. Tickets can be
booked online through the eTathkara website.
Here are the best films to look out for during the festival:
Souad by Ayten AminA young student from Mansoura, Egypt, in the northern Nile
Delta, leads a double life due to the incompatibility between her growing
sexual desires and societal norms.
Costa Brava, Lebanon by Mounia AklThe
Badri family flees the crushing pollution and social
malaise that reigns over Beirut by taking refuge in a mountain chalet. However,
construction work on a landfill begins right next door and brings all they were
trying to escape to their doorstep. As the work progresses, family tensions
also increase.
You Resemble Me by Dina AmerAfter two sisters living in the suburbs of
Paris are
separated, the eldest, Hasna, struggles to find her identity, which leads her
to make an extreme choice in the name of belonging and resistance. In an
exploration of cultural and intergenerational trauma, this film invites us to
look beyond our perception of absolute truth and to lift the veil of what
prevents us from seeing ourselves in each other.
Our River … Our Sky by Maysoon PachachiSara and her neighbors navigate daily life in a residential
district of
Baghdad marked by extreme violence and restrictive crfews. They
fight to resist the fragmentation of their world, renew their fragile sense of
hope, and have confidence in a better future.
Streams by Mehdi HmiliAmel, a factory worker, lives with her husband Tahar and
their teenage son Moumen, a talented goalkeeper. To convince her boss to put
her in contact with Imed, a businessperson who could help Moumen in his
football career, Amel betrays her fellow workers who are preparing to strike.
After being taken advantage of by Imed, she is accused of adultery and
prostitution. A victim of the scandal, Moumen sinks into the slums. Amel is
released after months in prison and searches for her son in the city’s
underbelly while facing the wrath of Tunisian society.
Farha by Darin J. SallamFarha, a young Palestinian girl, watches the Nakba unfold
under the brutality of the Israeli occupation. The film pays tribute to the
power and strength of Palestinian women throughout history.
Daughters of AbdelRahman by Zaid Abu HamdanFour sisters struggle with familial violence, social norms,
secrets, gender discrimination, and their relationship with the niqab.
Life of Ivanna by Renato Borrayo SerranoIvanna is a young
Nenets woman and mother of five children
living in the Russian Arctic. She decides to take her life into her own hands,
leaves an abusive relationship with her husband and abandons the traditional
way of life in the tundra, immigrating to the city in search of a better life.
Ghodwa by Dhafer L’AbidineHabib is a lawyer who faces a psychological dilemma in his
quest to uncover the abuses committed under the former
Ben Ali regime. Truth,
justice, and reconciliation form an essential trilogy that Habib struggles to
achieve in his pursuit of social justice. With the deterioration of his health,
the hero passes the torch to his 15-year-old son Ahmed. The roles are reversed,
and his son continues the fight for freedom and dignity.
Good Mother by Hafsia HerziNora — a 50-something-year-old housekeeper by profession —
watches over her small family in a housing estate in the northern districts of
Marseille. After a long period of unemployment, her eldest son, Ellyes, robs a
gas station on an evening of bad inspiration. Imprisoned for several months,
Ellyes awaits trial with contrasting feelings of hope and concern. Nora does
everything to make his wait as bearable as possible.
Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege) by Abdallah Al-KhatibDuring the
Syrian civil war, Yarmouk, a district of Damascus
where thousands of Palestinians have taken refuge, becomes the site of fierce
fighting. The film is a diary following the fate of civilians during the brutal
siege of the Syrian regime and how they resist with dignity the atrocities of
war.
Playground by Laura WandelOn the last day of school in a small Polish town, it is
12-year-old Gabrysia’s last chance to tell her classmate that she is in love
with him. She sets up a secret meeting and ensures the boy’s arrival. However,
what was supposed to be an intimate conversation spirals out of control and
leads to an unexpected conclusion.
The River by Ghassan SalhabA young woman and man have lunch on a restaurant’s terrace located
in the heart of a mountainous landscape in Lebanon. Suddenly, fighter planes
streak the sky, and a war breaks out in the distance. The two leave and find
themselves in the depths of nature, which begin to appear increasingly
spectral.
Life Suits Me Well by Al-Hadi Ulad-MohandIn a small town in northern
Morocco during the mid-1990s,
Fouad was the sole employee at the post office. A neurological disease changes
his and his family’s life, filling their home with love, sorrow, and memories.
As Fouad edges closer to death, his wife and children rediscover one another.
Wounds appear and the desire to live is insatiable.
Zalava by Arsalan AmiriIn 1978 at the onset of the
Iranian Revolution, the Kurdish
village of Zalava, nestled among the mountains of northwestern Iran, is cursed
by an ancient fear that there is a demon among them. When Massoud, a young
gendarmerie sergeant, attempts to circumvent crude exorcisms by confiscating
Zalava’s weapons, his actions lead to a shocking death. The incident draws out
Amardan, a shaman who claims he can provide a permanent solution to the
terrifying curse. However, when Massoud arrests the exorcist on charges of
fraud, the villager’s revolt and anger escalate, trapping the gendarmerie and
his lover in a cursed house, surrounded by villagers who believe they are both
possessed by the demon.
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