Amman Filmmakers Cooperative

Carthage Film Festival Welcomes Two Jordanian Films into Competition

(JORDAN - 23/10/2006) The Carthage International Film Festival,
Tunisia, one of the oldest and largest in the Arab world, will hold
its 40th session during November 11 - 18, 2006. But this year, unlike
the previous 39 years, Jordanian independent cinema will be present.

Fiilm What a Job

The festival's artistic director Ferid Boughedir confirmed the
selection of two Jordanian short films, produced by the Amman
Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC), for the official festival competition:

- Overdose by Ammar Quttaineh, AFC.
- What a Job by Mohammad Aboujarda, Omar Saleh, and Hazim Bitar, AFC.

What a Job is a short comedy concerning a group of young men who sign
up for a help wanted ad that promises a great career.

First-time filmmaker and IT manager Mohammad Aboujarad expressed
astonishment at the news of his film selection. "Frankly, I never
expected my first film to go this far. I knew I had to work hard and
long to make it to a festival like Carthage, but to be selected for
the competition is unbelievable," said Aboujarad.

Mohammad Abujarad

The film cast includes Aboujarad's childhood friends who also acted in
many of his home videos: Ameen Haroon, Yazan Sabri, Imad Assal, and
Bilal Badarneh. The lead role went to Eyad Ayyash, IT manager at
Shoman Foundation.

For co-director and telecom engineer Omar Saleh, the Carthage
selection is his first competition in an Arab film festival. Saleh
also directed Decision Man, and co-directed The Last Patch. "When we
discussed the script, I knew we had something special, a story that
many in our generation can identify with" remarked Saleh.

Omar Saleh

Commenting on the choice of film script, Amman Filmmakers Cooperative
founder and director Hazim Bitar said "there is an air of
hopelessness, cynicism, and frustration in the younger generations of
Jordanians. This may explain the appeal of this script to the young
co-directors as well as the selection committee."

Before finalizing the ending twist for the script for the film What a
Job, the general public was asked for input. A number of suggestions
were offered and the contributors were recognized in the film credits.

Overdose by Ammar Quttaineh is the second film selected for the
Carthage film festival competition. Overdose is without a doubt the
most prestigious Jordanian short films ever produced, netting more
international film festival selections than any other Jordanian film
in the history of Jordanian cinema. AFC filmmaker and stock broker
Ammar Quttaineh also co-directed festival hits such as Sharar and
Tough Luck. Quttaineh's impressive film festival credentials include
Academy-certified Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland;
Biennale des cinémas arabes à Paris, France; Academy-certified Tampere
Short Film Festival, Finland; International Panorama of Independent
Film and Video, Greece; Warda Short Film Festival, Syria; Dubai
International Film Festival, UAE. Festival du monde arabe de Montréal,
Canada; Ismailia Film Festival, Egypt; Tangier Short Film Festival,
Morocco; Emirates Film Competition, UAE; Jordan Short Film Festival;
and now Carthage International Film Festival, Tunisia.

The Amman Filmmakers Cooperative is a cultural initiative established
in 2003 to promote independent Arab cinema. For more information
about the AFC visit:

The Amman Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC)
http://JordanianFilms.com

What a Job web film
http://ammanfilmmakers.alif.com/video/what-a-job.rmvb

Overdose web film
http://ammanfilmmakers.alif.com/video/ammar-overdose.rm

CONTACT
Hazim Bitar, AFC Founder & Coordinator
+962.776.400.434
ArabFilmmakers@gmail.com

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