FESTIVAL PROGRAM

FILMMAKER: MUTAZ JANKOT

Letter from Sarah

Jordan Premiere (Festival Of Mediterranean Short Film Of Tangier '02, Cairo Int'l Radio, Television & Film Festival '03)
The filmmaker asks a 12-year-old Palestinian girl to write a film script recounting her ordeal.
Length: 10 min
Genre: Documentary
Language: English w/Arabic subtitles

FILMMAKER: AMIN MATALQA (Qua Film Group)

Affliction Day Jordan Premiere
Man wakes up and heads to work, gets in car, and turns radio on only to hear Michael Bolton's music. But this is no ordinary day and Bolton's song is no ordinary song.
Length: 3:22 min
Genre: Comedy
Language: English

Heavy Weight Jordan Premiere
Teacher is stalked by stranger from the past. On the train, in the street, and at home...why is he being followed?
Length: 10:49 min
Genre: Horror
Language: English

Rendezvous Jordan Premiere
Man meets woman of his life and takes a chance. He thinks he left a great impression, but did he?
Length: 5:48 min
Genre: Romance
Language: English

Last Call Jordan Premiere
Three friends deal with a mysterious phone call. Who's calling and what does this call mean?
Length: 6:53 min
Genre: Horror
Language: English

My First Jordan Premiere
A life of daily routine and monotony is about to change.
Length: 3:22 min
Genre: Horror
Language: English

My First - The making of Jordan Premiere
The filmmaker demonstrates the use of a storyboard to shoot his film.
Length: 2:54 min
Genre: Documentary/Educational
Language: English

FILMMAKER: LAITH MAJALI (Camel Crossing Film Group)

London Protests Jordan Premiere
A high-powered music video. You have never seen coverage of anti-war protests done in this manner before.
Length: 3:31min
Genre: Music video
Language: Visual

Run to Work Jordan Premiere
A frenzied rush to go to work. But can JD make it on time.
Length: 2 min
Genre: Drama
Language: Visual

The Jordan Experience
The filmmaker takes his video camera on a colorful journey in Jordan where the audience is treated to interesting people and fascinating places throughout the country.
Length: 5 min
Genre: Promotional
Language: Visual

FILMMAKER: OMAR SALEH (AFC Group)

Decision Man Jordan Premiere
The choices are obvious but the decision is hard to make. Having to consider the myriad consequences of his decision, Adel debates, with his inner self, the pros and cons of each choice only to find out that things no longer boil down to good and bad; black or white. Instead, Adel is confronted with a third force he must reckon with.
Genre: Comedy/Experimental
Length: 5 min
Language: Arabic w/English subtitles
Cast: Omar Saleh

FILMMAKER: AMMAR QUTTAINEH (AFC Group)

Overdose Jordan Premiere
The news is so negative and it only goes from bad to worse. Newspaper reporter Oraib finds herself subject to mounting pressures to tone down her headlines. But the avalanche of tragic events she must report simply does not lend itself to euphemisms. Faced with tough career decisions, she seeks advice in the most unlikely of places, to help her find the truth. But in the age of globalization, even the truth comes in various colors and sizes, with parts made locally and others imported.
Genre: Dark Comedy/Experimental
Length: 14 min
Language: Arabic w/English subtitles
Cast: Majd Hajjawi, Omar Saleh, Sameh Hajjawi, Ammar Omary, Yahya Abdallah, Rabee Zuraikat, Rawan Zeine, Steve Ali, Hunien Madi, Mohamad Saqfalheit.

AFC CLASSICS FILM SHOW

Alert Guns (Ismailyah Film Festival '04, Beirut DC Film Festival '04, Emirates Film Competition '05)
Salim dons his combat fatigues, slips into his black leather boots, and bids his young wife a farewell. There is tension in the air as the small radio blurts out military music. There is a battle of a different kind to be fought and Salim is determined to win it.
Director: Aseel Mansour.
Language: Arabic w/English subtitles
Cast: Dalia Alkury, Omar Hadidi, Khaled Abuneima, Haitham Abbadi.
Production team: Suhad Khatib, Dalia Alkury, Haitham Abbadi.
Length: 11 min
Genre: Drama.

Tough Luck (Dubai Int'l Film Festival '04, Mideast Film Festival '04, Beirut DC Film Festival '04, Emirates Film Competition '05)
Taxi driver in Dubai recalls a personal encounter with a negative passenger. But for how long can the cabby put up with the attitude?
Genre: Comedy.
Director: Ammar Quttaineh
Language: English
Length:5 min

Heartache
Both formally engaged and both are madly in love with filmmaking. Mais and Hussam, who were influenced by best-selling book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus," have decided to make their first short drama focused on the issue of male-female miscommunication.
Genre: Drama
Directors: Mais & Hussam Hamarneh
Language: Arabic w/English subtitles
Duration: 5 min

Gentle Grandmother
A surreal short drama which explores the complex effects of well-intentioned but coercive child-rearing practices suffered by little Mohannad and the harmful, long-term consequences of such practices.
Genre: Drama
Director: Yahya Abdallah
Language: Arabic
Length: 9 min.

3 Ghettos 1 Land
Israel, with US backing, resuscitates some of the most abhorrent symbols of racial exclusion, long abandoned by true liberal democracies. And for the Arabs of Palestine, their entrance into the 21st century is now cemented with gigantic concrete walls and Jewish-made ghettos to lock Arabs in, break up families, and destroy livelihoods. The filmmaker creatively delves into the disturbing statistics and the socioeconomic consequences to Israel's racist wall, with the backdrop of antiapartheid demonstrations in Amman.
Genre: Documentary.
Director: Suhad Khatib
Language: Arabic w/English subtitles
Length: 12 min

Made in China (Emirates Film Competition '05; Ecofilm Festival '05)
Amidst technological advancements and the replacement of the human touch in most tools used today for convenience, the filmmaker meditates on her ability to touch by engrossing herself in the 5th sense.
Genre: Video art.
Director: Dalia Alkury
Sound: Ammar Fakhoury
Length: 3 min

Reason (Emirates Film Competition '04)
Psychotic graphic designer goes off the edge.
Director: Amr Toukhy
Language: Arabic w/English subtitles
Length: 1:30 min
Genre: Comedy.

Death by Chocolate (Emirates Film Competition '05)
The script was collectively developed, filmed, and edited in one day by the AFC Class of May '04. The mockumentary pokes fun at chocolate lovers. The film promotes rehabilitation services for chocolate addicts in Amman, and exposes the darker side of chocolate addiction and rehabilitation.
Genre: Mockumentary
Director: AFC Class of May '04 (Seren Ahmad, Salwa Shaksheir, Abir Zahdih, Sameh Hajjawi, Maise Hamarneh, Hussam Hamarneh, Marian Sahouri, and Yaman Jundi.)
Language: Arabic w/English subtitles
Duration: 5 min

Nightmares of Reality (DocuDays Film Festival '04, Emirates Film Competition '05)
Film captures the flurry of grassroots activities in the days prior to the US-UK lead war on Iraq from the point of view of a group of friends living in Amman. It portrays the mindset of a number of different people with different backgrounds. 2003.
Length: 5.30 min
Directors: Aseel Mansour, Razan Khatib
Genre: Documentary.

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