AMMAN (JT) - The Royal Film Commission (RFC) on Wednesday announced the local film projects that will receive grants from the first round of the Jordan Film Fund (JFF).
The JD500,000 fund is financing 15 feature-length and short films with variable grants. The financial support is awarded to films in the development, production, or post-production phases, according to an RFC statement.
Four narrative and two documentary features received funding for the production phase, while five feature-length projects, including one documentary, will be funded during the development phase.
Only one feature film, a documentary, received funding for its post-production phase, the statement said.
In the short films category, three narrative projects received financial support for their production phases.
The projects were selected by a jury of Arab and local film experts.
"With the large number of promising submissions received, and given the limited amount of funds available, the jury members had to make difficult decisions," the statement quoted RFC General Manager George David as saying.
He voiced hope that the grants "will contribute to the development of the Arab and Jordanian film industries".
The statement said the RFC will start receiving applications for the next round of the JFF soon.
Launched in May, the fund provides assistance to the development and production of independent cinematic projects, according to rules and regulations published on the RFC's website.
To qualify for assistance the project's producer, director or writer "must be a Jordanian national", while all three must have prior experience in producing at least three short films or one feature film (documentary or narrative).
Regulations stipulate that "at least 60 per cent of all dialogue, narration, voice-over and any form of communication within the film must be in Arabic".
If the completed motion picture's net profits amount to 10 per cent or more of its production costs, "the production must reimburse the JFF" with specified percentages according to revenues.
If the film's net profits are lower or if the film is not profitable, the production is waived from reimbursing the fund, according to the RFC, but this will prevent participants in the project from applying to the fund again for a three-year period.
© Jordan Times 2011
