JORDAN: The Carthage International Film Festival, Tunisia, one of the oldest and largest in the Arab world, will hold its 40th session during November 11 - 18, 2006. But this year, unlike the previous 39 years, Jordanian independent cinema will be present.
The festival's artistic director Ferid Boughedir confirmed the selection of two Jordanian short films, produced by the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC), for the official festival competition:
- Overdose by Ammar Quttaineh, AFC.
- What a Job by Mohammad Aboujarda, Omar Saleh, and Hazim Bitar, AFC.
What a Job is a short comedy concerning a group of young men who sign up for a help wanted ad that promises a great career.
First-time filmmaker and IT manager Mohammad Aboujarad expressed astonishment at the news of his film selection. "Frankly, I never expected my first film to go this far. I knew I had to work hard and long to make it to a festival like Carthage, but to be selected for the competition is unbelievable," said Aboujarad.
The film cast includes Aboujarad's childhood friends who also acted in many of his home videos: Ameen Haroon, Yazan Sabri, Imad Assal, and Bilal Badarneh. The lead role went to Eyad Ayyash, IT manager at Shoman Foundation.
For co-director and telecom engineer Omar Saleh, the Carthage selection is his first competition in an Arab film festival. Saleh also directed Decision Man, and co-directed The Last Patch. "When we discussed the script, I knew we had something special, a story that many in our generation can identify with" remarked Saleh.
Commenting on the choice of film script, Amman Filmmakers Cooperative founder and director Hazim Bitar said "there is an air of hopelessness, cynicism, and frustration in the younger generations of Jordanians. This may explain the appeal of this script to the young co-directors as well as the selection committee."
Before finalizing the ending twist for the script for the film What a Job, the general public was asked for input. A number of suggestions were offered and the contributors were recognized in the film credits.
Overdose by Ammar Quttaineh is the second film selected for the Carthage film festival competition. Overdose is without a doubt the most prestigious Jordanian short films ever produced, netting more international film festival selections than any other Jordanian film in the history of Jordanian cinema. AFC filmmaker and stock broker Ammar Quttaineh also co-directed festival hits such as Sharar and Tough Luck. Quttaineh's impressive film festival credentials include Academy-certified Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland; Biennale des cinmas arabes Paris, France; Academy-certified Tampere Short Film Festival, Finland; International Panorama of Independent Film and Video, Greece; Warda Short Film Festival, Syria; Dubai International Film Festival, UAE. Festival du monde arabe de Montral, Canada; Ismailia Film Festival, Egypt; Tangier Short Film Festival, Morocco; Emirates Film Competition, UAE; Jordan Short Film Festival; and now Carthage International Film Festival, Tunisia.
The short film What a Job can be also viewed on the web:
http://ammanfilmmakers.alif.com/video/what-a-job.rmvb
The Amman Filmmakers Cooperative is a cultural initiative established in 2003 to promote independent Arab cinema. For more information about the AFC visit:
http://JordanianFilms.com
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CONTACT:
Hazim Bitar,
AFC Founder & Coordinator
+962.776.400.434
ArabFilmmakers@gmail.com
© Press Release 2006
