AMMAN - Jordanian and French businesspeople are supporting the participation of local filmmakers and production companies in this year's Cannes Film Festival.
The Franco Jordanian Business Club (CAFRAJ) announced this week that it has received an 85,000-euro grant from the EU and the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) to support the participation of members of the Kingdom's film industry in the festival in May.
The grant is extended as part of the EU-funded Jordan Services Modernisation Programme, a three-year initiative that aims to upgrade the services sector in the Kingdom, according to a CAFRAJ statement received by The Jordan Times.
In addition to improving the experience of the country's talents and entrepreneurs, the Jordanian presence in Cannes will also serve as an opportunity to showcase the Kingdom as a filming location, organisers said.
"The presence of Jordanian filmmakers at such international festivals will definitely serve Jordanian cinema," George David, general manager of the country's Royal Film Commission (RFC), told reporters at a press conference in Amman on Wednesday.
An RFC committee will choose the filmmakers and companies which will take part in the Jordanian booth in Cannes, David said, adding that those who have already made feature films or have ready scripts are eligible for participation.
"Currently, there are no local companies that produce films [in Jordan], but some support the filmmaking industry," he said, noting that the Kingdom's cinema witnessed a renaissance since the release of Amin Matalqa's award-winning film, "Captain Abu Raed", in 2007.
In December last year, Mohydeen Quandour's "Cherkess", which depicts the relationship between the country's Circassian and bedouin communities in the early 20th century, won seven awards at the Angel Film Awards in Monaco including Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Producer.
In the same month, "Transit Cities", by Mohammad Hushki, received the Special Jury Prize and the International Federation of Film Critics Awards at the Dubai International Film Festival.
Also during the festival, Mahmoud Al Massad's documentary, "This is My Picture When I Was Dead," won the Muhr Arab Award.
Massad came to international prominence when "Recycle", a documentary on poverty and extremism, received the Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema Cinematography Award for Documentary in 2008.
CAFRAJ, which also acts as a representative of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jordan, is working to promote the country as a filming location among French and international production companies, according to Ibrahim Kattan, the club's executive director.
"This will help boost the business and services sectors in Jordan," he said during the press conference.
Several big-budget international films have recently been partially or fully shot in the Kingdom, including "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" by Michael Bay, Kathryn Bigelow's "Hurt Locker" and Raffaele Merts' "The Holy Family".
© Jordan Times 2011
