Projects from Jordan, Iraq and Syria emerged as the top winners at this year’s Amman Film Industry Days (AFID), with Hush, Hush, I Am Coming Imam and After Three Years of Green winning three awards each as the industry platform handed out 23 cash and in-kind prizes.
Jordanian Palestinian writer and actress Hayat Abu Samra’s feature directorial debut Hush, Hush won the Royal Film Commission – Jordan’s $7,000 award for first-time Jordanian directors as well as awards from Slate Production Services and an invitation from France’s Cinémed Festival.
The upcoming film is about a sheltered socialite and a hustler who launch a secret sex-toy business after meeting in a prison waiting room,
Abu Samra is best known for her roles in Abdallah Al-Khatib’s Chronicles From The Siege, winner of the GWFF Best First Feature Award at the Berlinale, and Cherien Dabis’ All That’s Left of You.
Documentary I Am Coming Imam by Iraqi filmmaker Hassan Sabri received the €5,000 IEFTA award, alongside post-production support from Rum Pictures and Acousmatics.
Set in southern Iraq, the film explores identity, belonging and faith through the lens of Shia mourning rituals, following two characters from different generations within one of the region’s major mourning centres as they navigate the inherited grief, devotion and communal memory.
Sabri’s 2022 short Watermelon Nights received a special jury mention at the European Independent Film Festival (ÉCU)
In the post-production section, Syrian documentary After Three Years of Green by Alayham Ali and Amr Al Shashaou, received the Royal Film Commission – Jordan’s $7,000 prize, as well as additional awards from DAE and Wind Cinema.
Set in Damascus, the film follows two young filmmakers whose relationship unfolds against the backdrop of war and political upheaval, exploring identity, belonging and the tension between leaving and staying.
The jury for this year’s AFID included Spanish director Avelina Prat, Egyptian filmmaker Ayman El Amir, Jordanian director Rand Beiruty, Kuwaiti producer Talal Al-Muhanna and Tunisian filmmaker Mehdi Barsaoui.
Among the other development winners, political drama Under Her Eye by Jordanian filmmaker Amjad Al Rasheed received the Royal Film Commission – Jordan’s $7,000 award for Arab projects in development.
It follows a conservative politician whose unmarried daughter falls into a coma days before an election, forcing her to confront secrets that threaten both her campaign and her family’s reputation. Al Rasheed’s debut feature, Inshallah A Boy, premiered at Cannes in 2023, where it became the first ever Jordanian feature to screen in Critics’ Week.
Berlin-based Syrian filmmaker Ziad Kalthoum’s The Last Trip won the Film Market’s largest cash award, a $10,000 prize presented by ART, as well as Olivewood’s $5,000 development award. The feature follows a former Syrian army photographer living in exile in Berlin who is forced to confront his wartime past after a traumatic encounter. Kalthoum is known for The Immortal Sergeant and the IDFA-winning documentary Taste Of Cement.
Berlinale Shorts Golden Bear winner Marie-Rose Osta received a screenplay residency in Tunisia and script development support from Masnaa, alongside screenplay consultancy from Alluring Motion, for her feature debut Mina.
Set in Lebanon in the early 1990s during the Syrian occupation, the film follows a 9-year-old girl who believes everything her mother says becomes true. When those words suddenly stop working, Mina begins to question the world she has always trusted.
Osta’s short Someday, A Child won the Golden Bear at Berlinale Shorts earlier this year.
Further development winners included Libyan filmmaker Muhannad Lamin’s The Guardian, which received the Jordan Kuwait Bank award, and Lebanese filmmaker Leila Basma’s Dance With Me, which received a year of development support and consultation from EKLAT.
Saudi filmmaker Lama Jamjoom’s Remind Me To Forget received story consultation support from the In Between Women Filmmakers Caravan. Jordanian project Between Two Houses, directed by Raya Shaban, and Saudi project Close Rose, Close, directed by Rulan Hasan, also secured screenplay and post-production consultation awards through the Film Market.
Running from July 27 to August 1 as the industry arm of the Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film, AFID brought together filmmakers, producers, financiers and sales professionals through project pitching sessions, one-to-one meetings, workshops and industry discussions. This year’s programme featured 19 projects in three sections: first-time Jordanian features in development, Arab projects in development and Arab projects in post-production.
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