Updated: December 7, 2006
LEADING SHORT FILM FESTIVAL SELECTS JORDANIAN INDIE FILM SHARAR FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
(JORDAN - 06/12/2006) The world's leading short film festival, the 29th edition of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, has officially selected the Jordanian indie short film Sharar to the international competition. Directed by Ammar Quttaineh, Hazim Bitar, and Syrian filmmaker Saleh Kasem, the fiction film is a story of a young blue-collar worker, in one of Jordan's industrial zones, caught in the cycle of despair. The film was produced by the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC) in 2006.
Mutaz Dirani (left) Karim Shiyab (right)"Like many of our short films, this one is driven by current Jordanian affairs but is also the fulfillment of a list of cinematic experiments I had hoped to incorporate into our films," commented AFC co-director Ammar Quttaineh, currently a stock broker in the United Arab Emirates. "I consider Sharar to be a natural evolution of my filmmaking journey as an issue-oriented indie filmmaker."
Syrian co-director Saleh Kasem, who was pursuing his Management Information Systems degree in Jordan at the time of production, recalls difficulties encountered while casting for the film. "It seemed no one wanted to act in this film. We even had over six actors come forward only to cancel out at the last moment," said Kasem. "We found it difficult to convey our vision to the actors, but at the end we were happy with the final cast. The wait paid off"
The Sharar cast includes Mutaz Dirani, Karym Shiyab, Nour Moumani, Loay Quttaineh, Tamir Omary, and Hesham Mhameed.
"There was no dearth of stories coming out of Jordan's industrial zones, with some more disturbing than others," said scriptwriter Hazim Bitar. "If any, I regret not being courageous enough in my storytelling, but this will not be the last word on this subject."
The film has been previously selected to the competitions of the Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland; Tangier Mediterranean Short Film Festival, Morocco; Biennale des cinémas arabes à Paris, France; Jordan Short Film Festival, Jordan; Izmir International Short Film Festival, Turkey; International Panorama of Independent Film and Video, Greece.
Co-directors Ammar Quttaineh (left) and Saleh Kasem (right).Over 4000 films have been submitted to compete in the international competition of the Clermont-Ferrand film festival. Only 70 films have been selected for the competition.
In 2006, over 120,000 festival tickets have been sold. The French festival will be held from January 26th until February 3, 2007 in the historic city of Clermont-Ferrand, home to the Michelin Tire Company and once launching grounds of the dreadful Crusades. The Clermont-Ferrand is an Academy-certified film festival.
The 17 minuet film was shot via a Sony PD170 and edited with Adobe Premiere Pro.
The Amman Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC) is a cultural initiative aimed at promoting independent Arab cinema, formed in 2003 by Hazim Bitar.
CONTACT
+962.776.400.434
ArabFilmmakers@gmail.comRELATED LINKS
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival
http://www.clermont-filmfest.comAmman Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC)
http://JordanianFilms.comAFC Films
http://ammanfilmmakers.alif.com/student-films.htmAFC Filmmakers
http://ammanfilmmakers.alif.com/filmmakers-bios.htmHazim Bitar
http://HazimBitar.com# # #
