European Union

Amman -25 Sept. 2010.  The 22nd edition of the European Film Festival in Jordan kicks off under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Al Ali. The festival is organized by the Delegation of the European Union in Amman, in cooperation with Greater Amman Municipality, the Royal Film Commission and Al-Balad Theatre in addition to numerous Jordanian and European institutions and centers concerned with the development of the cultural and artistic scene in the Kingdom.

A press conference was held on the 21st of September to announce the launch of the festival. The conference was attended by His Excellency the Belgian Ambassador to Jordan Mr. Johan Indekeu, Mrs. Irène Mingasson, Chargée d'Affaires, a.i, of the Delegation of the European Union in Amman, Ms. Shaima Tell, Representative of Greater Amman Municipality, and Ms. Nada Domani, Representative of the Royal Film Commission. Expressing her pride in this event, Mrs. Irène Mingasson said: "We are proud of this annual event which has become a cultural window through which both the Europeans and the Jordanians view each other's cultures through the common language of film art."

The programme of the festival, which takes place at Al-Hussein Cultural Center and the Royal Film Commission, includes a range of films recently produced in 16 European countries (Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Britain, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Italy, Austria and Romania). These films touch contemporary human and societal themes, such as coming of age, preservation of a way of life, the juxtaposition of love and war and finding common grounds. The festival will also include a variety of cultural and artistic side events, such as storytelling, cinematic readings, street dance performance in Lweibdeh Garden on the twenty-ninth of September, in addition to a hip-hop performance by Accrorap band (France) at the Hussein Cultural Center on the thirtieth of the same month. The programme of this edition will also include screening of short films and children films in Zarqa, Jordan's City of Culture for 2010.

The opening ceremony for invited guests will be held under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Al Ali at the headquarters of the Royal Film Commission on the evening of the twenty-fifth of the month. During the ceremony, the winners of the Jordanian film competition on human rights in organized in cooperation with Karama Human Rights Films Festival will be announced. Also, a cooperation agreement will be signed between the European Union National Institutes for Culture, (EUNIC) cluster with the purpose to create effective partnerships between the participating organisations, to improve and promote cultural diversity and understanding between European societies, and to strengthen international dialogue and co-operation with countries outside Europe.

The festival will be opened with the screening on Saturday 25 September of the Belgian film (Khadak), by Robinson Woodworth, which received in 2006 the awards of Venice International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. The film, with duration of 104 minutes, tells the epic story of Bagi, a young nomad in the frigid plains of Mongolia, when a plague strikes the animals and the nomads are forcibly relocated to desolate mining towns. Bagi saves the life of the beautiful coal thief "Zolzaia", and together they discover that the plague is a lie fabricated to terminate nomadic life.

The festival film screening will continue until the 2nd of October 2010 at the Royal Film Commission and Al Hussein Cultural Center, in cooperation with European partners and a number of local authorities (Amman Municipality, Zarqa - Jordan City of Culture, Princess Salma Centre in Zarqa, Karama Human Rights Films Festival, Zakharef in Motion, 7ibr. com). It is sponsored by Al-Ghad Newspaper, Mazaj FM, Mood FM, Beat FM and Winderman.

For more information, please visit the Festival's website