In the past two months, four Jordanian productions, two Arab projects, one Jordanian-Arab co-production, one American TV series and a Serbian feature film were shot in the country.
Around 13 feature-narrative films, 26 TV series and 93 short films were shot in Jordan in 2019, according to the Royal Film Commission – Jordan.
The year was marked by an increase in Jordanian productions, as for the first time, three feature-narrative films – produced, written and directed by Jordanians – were shot in the same year.
Film director Darin J Sallam made her way into the world of feature-narrative films with Jordanian film Farha. The film was shot over 32 days with a crew of about 50.
The Alleys is the first feature-length narrative movie by director Bassel Ghandour. With a crew of 80 people, The Alleys was filmed in various parts of the capital over the course of forty days.
In his first feature-narrative film, Daughters of Abdulrahman, director Zaid Abu Hamdan shows a father raising his daughters after the tragic passing away of their mother.
Princess Rym Ali, member of the Board of Commissioners at the Royal Film Commission, visited the film sets of the three Jordanian feature movies, where she met the directors and the film crews.
Commenting on the films, Princess Rym Ali said: “This year is a beacon for Jordanian cinema; we are eager to watch the Jordanian productions on the big screen, show them to the public and celebrate their creators, wishing them continuous progress and success. There is currently a momentum for filming local, Arab and international productions in the Kingdom; and the RFC is providing all necessary comprehensive production services to secure a comfortable and enabling environment for these projects to see the light.”
In addition, Jordan, Egypt and Palestine joined hands to produce the feature-narrative film Sarah by the Egyptian director Mohamed Diab.
Jordanian TV series Alrasad, directed by Qais Elia, was shot in Amman, Jerash and Ajloun. Alrasad stars Jordanian actor Eyad Nassar and Syrian actor Abbas al-Noury. Egyptian director Yassir Sami chose Salt, Karak Castle and Wadi Bin Hammad as filming locations for his upcoming TV series The End.
The twin Palestinian directors – Arab & Tarzan Nasser – embarked on a journey to Madaba and Amman to film a story set in Gaza for their second feature-narrative movie 3 Miles to Love.
Wadi Rum hosted the shoot of the first Serbian production in Jordan A Cross in the Desert, a feature film by director by Hadzi Aleksandar Durovic; in addition to an American science fiction series Away by David Boyd.
Earlier this month, the RFC organised the first Jordanian screening of the famous sci-fi movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, by American director JJ Abrams. Jordan also hosted the first regional screening of Aladdin, the live-action remake of Disney’s 1992 animated film.
