Mohannad Al-Bakri, the managing director of the Jordanian Royal Film Commission (RFC), is to receive the Arab Cinema Personality of the Year award during the upcoming Berlinale.
The honour is bestowed by the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) and highlights prominent industry figures whose contributions have helped elevate the Arab film industry in the eyes of the international filmmaking community.
Al-Bakri has been instrumental in growing the Jordan’s film industry since being named managing director at the RFC in 2009, developing the commission’s funding and training programs, as well as building local production capacity with the opening of the country’s first dedicated film studio complex, Olivewood Film Studios in Amman.
ACC co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab said: “Since assuming his position, [Al-Bakri] has made enormous and noteworthy efforts to advance the Jordanian film industry. This is evidenced by the outstanding success Jordanian films have achieved so far both locally and internationally.”
Films to have shot in Jordan include the upcoming Dune: Part 2 and John Wick Chapter 4. Local titles include Inshallah A Boy, which received its world premiere last year in Cannes’ Critics Week, winning two awards.
The Arab Cinema Center was launched by pan-Arab studio MAD Solutions in 2015 and has previously awarded the Arab Cinema Personality of the Year honour to Mouhamad Keblawi, founder and head of Sweden’s Malmö Arab Film Festival; Chiraz Latiri, former general director of the Centre National du Cinema et de l’Image; and Film Clinic founder Mohamed Hefzy.
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