Updated: January 19, 2008
SHORT FILM BY JORDANIAN FILMMAKER ZUREIKAT REFLECTS ON A CLOSE CALL
(AMMAN, January 11, 2008) Not My Turn Yet, is personal duet about life and loss, an experimental short film celebrating the miracle of everyday life while morning everyday tragedies.
Cooperative filmmaker Rabee Zureikat and fellow humanitarian volunteer Leen Samara reflect on a recent bus trip to the Dead Sea, to deliver food supplies to a remote village. What started as a routine delivery trip could have ended in disaster when a freak accident causes a truck to explode at a military checkpoint, taking the lives of three people while injuring others. Among the dead are a respected Jordanian academician and his wife.
"I was filming the trip when suddenly we saw an explosion at the checkpoint down the road. For a few seconds, we were struck by the realization that had we made it to the checkpoint sooner, there is no telling what would have happened," said filmmaker Rabee Zureikat.
Co-narrator and fellow volunteer Leen Samara, was also left pondering the fragility of life and the randomness of death. "You don't analyze it at first, but over the next few days, it starts to sink in," said Samara. To her, the experience shows that no matter how safe we play it, there are forces that ultimately shape our destiny.
Co-director Hazim Bitar, who accompanied Zureikat on numerous trips along the same notorious highway, said "we offer our condolences to the bereft families and pray for the recovery of the injured ones, but life goes on, in war zones or anywhere else."
Rabee Zureikat has directed Ash (2005) and acted and crewed in numerous films by the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative such as The Last Patch (2006), Overdose (2005), and Three Eyes (2007). He works as an advertising executive in Amman, Jordan.
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Link to film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mRGsLlvNjk
NOTE: Most films by the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative can be found on Google Video (video.google.com) Search for "amman filmmakers cooperative" and select film.
Title: No my turn, yet.
Duration: 5 min.
Genre: Experimental
Directors: Rabee Zureikat & Hazim Bitar
Narration: Rabee Zureikat & Leen Samara
Camera: Rabee Zureikat & Hazim Bitar
Editing: Hazim Bitar
Producer: Amman Filmmakers Cooperative
Year: 2008
Country: Jordan
