Red Carpet for the Opening of the 3rd Edition of The Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film
July 28, 2022
Projects and jury announced for the upcoming Amman Film Industry Days
August 2, 2022
| 27 July, 2022 – Amidst much anticipation and excitement, the Juries of the Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film (AIFF) announced, today, the winning films of the Black Iris Awards in the three Arab competitive categories at the closing and awards ceremony of the third edition held at the Royal Film Commission – Jordan. Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and the Festival’s President, Princess Rym Ali, attended the ceremony along with a number of Jordanian personalities, competing filmmakers, the Festival’s partners and guests as well as local, regional and international media outlets. Left to right: The Algerian Ambassador, representing Mourad Hamla, Salah Issaad, Nada Doumani, Princess Rym Ali and Abdallah Al-KhatibFor eight days, the Jordanian capital embraced a cultural event celebrating Arab talents, as the Festival offered the audience in Jordan a unique opportunity to watch a rich selection of 49 narrative and documentary movies, Arab and international from 29 countries all recent productions, in three venues: the Drive-in cinema in the Abdali area, especially built for the Festival, as well as the open-air theatre at the Royal Film Commission and TAJ Cinemas. Filmmakers were present at the screening of their films and met the audience through inspiring discussions.  Left to right: The French Cultural Attaché, the Algerian Ambassador, representing Mourad Hamla, Zeina Daccache, Salah Issaad, Akram Sadoon, Abdallah Al-Khatib and Mohammad Dabbas This year, the AIFF hosted some 150 guests from abroad, including directors, producers and film experts, in addition to the Jordanian filmmaking community. Stemming from the Festival’s belief that the audience is the core of its success, some screenings were also organized in Irbid, Salt and Aqaba in order to reach the largest possible audience across the Kingdom. In parallel to the screenings, the Festival organized the “Amman Film Industry Days” (AFID) which presented a series of workshops and panels related to filmmaking as well as pitching platforms for projects in development and post-production whose awards were announced last night. Commenting on the Festival’s commitment to support and highlight fist time achievements, Nada Doumani, AIFF’s Director, said: “We are happy with the cultural hype it generated in the country. The Festival didn’t only build bridges between its guests but also between cinema professionals and the public at large.” She added: “The Festival is an incubator for talents and different narratives which speak to our minds and emotions.” The Jordanian Artist Zain Awad presented the and invited the juries on stage to reveal the winning films. Among the 11 competing movies in the Arab feature narrative films category, the jury composed of the director-writer Nadine Khan the journalist and film critic Luciano Barisone and the novelist and playwright Samiha Khrais awarded the Black Iris Award for Best Arab Feature-Length Narrative and a cash prize of $20,000 for the Algerian film “Soula” by Salah Issaad. The jury also gave a Special Mention to the Somali film “The Gravedigger’s Wife” by Khadar Ahmed.  Director Salah Issaad and members of the jury In the Feature-Length Arab Documentary category (seven competing films), the Palestinian-Syrian film “Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege” by Abdallah Al-Khatib won the Black Iris Award for Best Feature Length Arab Documentary along with a cash prize of $15,000. For this category, the jury included the film producer Irène Challand, the editor Phil Jandaly and the director and producer Aseel Mansour. The Special Mention went to the Iraqi film “Take Me to the Cinema” by Albaqer Jafeer, whereas the Lebanese film “The Blue Inmates” by Zeina Daccache received A Special Mention for its Editor Myriam Geagea.  Director Abdallah Khatib The Arab Short Film jury, composed of the theatre and cinema actress Carmen Lebbos, director Ameer Fakher Eldin and the producer and screenwriter Nadia Eliewat granted the Black Iris Award for Best Arab Short Film, and an award of $5,000, for the Algerian film “My Mother’s Voice” by Mourad Hamla, for the category where 14 short films competed. The jury awarded a Special Mention to the Jordanian film “The Mission” by Mohammad Dabbas.  Left to right: The Algerian Ambassador, representing Mourad Hamla, Salah Issaad, Princess Rym Ali, Nada Doumani, Areeb Zuaiter, Abdallah Al-Khatib and Bassam Alasad The AIFF gave the audience the chance to vote for their favorite film in the International Films section, in which nine films from foreign countries around the world participated, and the public chose “The Crossing” directed by the French director Florence Miailhe with a prize of $5,000, in addition to The Black Iris for Best International Film. It is worth noting that the AFID concluded on July 26th, where 13 projects have won cash and in-kind awards.For further information about the Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film (AIFF), including all of our social media platforms and contact information please click here or visit our website, www.aiff.jo or call Rick W. Hindi at +962792222011. |
Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film aims to foster a creative buzz amongst filmmakers and film lovers of all kinds, by offering high-quality films and opportunities to cinema professionals. Whether you are a budding or an experienced filmmaker, an actor or a critic, an industry insider or an enthusiastic filmgoer, Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film welcomes you.
