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Amman,
22 November 2022
The first edition of the Jordan Children’s Film Festival (JCFF)
kicks off next Thursday, 24th of November, organized by the Royal
Film Commission – Jordan (RFC). The festival presents daily
screenings until Sunday 27th of November at the Rainbow Theater in
Jabal Amman.
JCFF is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and one of the few in
the region that solely focuses on movies for the youth. The audience
will get the chance to watch a variety of recent Arab and
international productions, suitable for children above 10 years old
and some for those above six. The RFC had launched an open call for
film submissions two months prior to the festival.
Children will get exposed to different environments and learn about
different cultures through four feature narrative family movies: the
opening film “Jackie and Oopjen” from the Netherlands; “Jim Button
and the Wild 13” from Germany; “A Butterfly’s Heart” from Lithuania;
“Wolfwalkers” from Ireland. Moreover, 14 short narrative and
animation films from Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, Algeria, Canada,
Malta and Georgian will be showcased. Screenings are followed by
discussions with film experts encouraging the young audience to
think, analyze and exchange ideas. Out of competition, the festival
will screen a special episode – not broadcast before – from the
famous Jordanian kids’ program “Ahlan Simsim”, followed by a
puppetry show.
The RFC formed two juries: one is made-up of adult professionals
working in the audio-visual industry that includes the producer
Khaled Haddad, the Manager of Ro’ya Kids Platform, Lara Safadi, and
the Head of the Theater Department at the Ministry of Education,
Bassem Awad; the second jury gives children the opportunity to
select their favorite movie. The audience will also have its say by
selecting its favorite title. It is worth mentioning that the best
feature film and best short film will receive cash awards.
Mohannad Al-Bakri, the RFC’s Managing Director: “We are proud to
launch the first Jordan Children’s Film Festival, as we strongly
believe in the power of cinema and filmmaking and their impact on
the youth. The festival offers a different content from what they
see on TVs and online platforms, and is an open space for children
to interact with their peers. We are also organizing two training
workshops in the framework of the festival: “Draw Your Story” and
“Makeup and Effects in Cinema”, to engage children in some of the
aspects of filmmaking, tapping into their creativity and talents.
The RFC will also hold a panel discussion on the need to increase
cinematic and cultural production for children in Arabic.”
He added: “The festival was not a spur of the moment, but is rather
in line with the RFC’s ongoing efforts targeting children in Amman
and the governorates and as a continuation of our already existing
activities: Film in Schools program in cooperation with the Ministry
of Education; a Film Caravan touring the Kingdom to showcase movies
for kid; and training programs for children.”
The closing ceremony will be held on Sunday 27th of November at 6:00
PM at the Rainbow Theater, where a collection of short films will be
showcased followed by the announcement of the winning movies.
You can find the JCFF program
here
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