Jordan’s Emerging Filmmakers Prioritizing Universal Human Experiences, Local Realities, Authenticity

Jordan’s vibrant cinematic landscape continues to evolve thanks in large part to an increasing diversity of filmmaking talent determined to tell their  own unique stories, ranging from intimate portraits and locally rooted genre to historical accounts and the realities of the region’s refugee crisis.

While film remains a highly competitive field, Jordan’s film sector is providing strong support for many up-and-coming filmmakers, from training to networking and funding via the Jordan Film Academy, the Royal Film Commission, Jordan Film Fund and the Amman Film Festival.

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A number of projects that took part  took part in last year’s Amman Film Industry Days have progressed significantly.

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The tentatively titled “Amal,” a documentary project by Khaled Alswidan (Al Khaldi), initially won two major development awards in Amman in 2024, followed by further awards in Cairo and selection in the year-long Storyhouse (Bayt Al Hikayat) development program. Last year it received production support from the Jordan Film Fund, which brought the project significantly closer to its production phase and final financing stages, according to Al Khaldi. “Amal” is next headed to First Cut Lab Doha, where it will enter its next stage of editorial and creative development.

The film follows two Syrian sisters, Amal and Bara’a, survivors of early marriage, as they seek to rebuild their lives but whose paths take radically different directions in the aftermath of displacement. While Amal lives in the Zaatari refugee camp, Bara’a has moved to Amman to start a new life away from family and societal constraints.

“The project has also continued to evolve creatively,” Al Khaldi says. “One of the most significant developments came following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, which reshaped an important narrative thread in the film and led to substantial revisions of the screenplay, including the return of one of the protagonists to Syria.”

Originally from Syria himself, Al Khaldi has lived in Jordan since 2011. He is primarily focused on documentary cinema and observational filmmaking.

“After the Syrian war, I lived in socially complex environments in Jordan and witnessed firsthand transformations and issues that are difficult to access or fully understand from the outside. This experience has given me the ability to build trust and access stories and characters that often remain beyond the reach of the camera.”

Al Khaldiis is currently developing a new short documentary “that follows the lives of women living in the context of their husbands’ involvement in drug smuggling, focusing on the impact this has on their daily lives, choices, and social positions.”

Such projects, Al Khaldi explains, require years of building trust and relationships within these communities. The struggle of women in the region is a topic close to home for the filmmaker.  

“Being the eldest brother of five sisters has made me more aware of the layers of violence and social pressures faced by women in our societies, which has directly influenced the themes I choose to explore.” Al Khaldi’s wife and producer Lujain Hamdan has also played an important role in deepening his engagement with these issues, he adds.

Al Khaldi is not alone in seeking to share intimate stories that explore the realities of his community.

Producer Alaa Alasad of Amman-based Tabi360 says Jordanian and West Asian filmmakers are increasingly eager to tell their own stories without compromising their vision.

“We are seeing a shift toward stories that prioritize universal human experiences over cultural stereotypes,” he adds.

Alasad produced Zain Duraie’s feature film debut “Sink,” which in many ways exemplifies a new direction in Jordanian and West Asian cinema.

The film, which screens at the Shanghai Film Festival, centers on a desperate mother struggling with her teenage son’s mental disorder, a subject rarely discussed in the Arab world but also one that was unexpected in Western countries.

“I believe ‘Sink’ represents a significant turning point for modern West Asian cinema because it reclaims our right to tell intimate, deeply human stories without needing to justify them through a geopolitical lens.

“For a long time, the international market expected Arab films to focus exclusively on war, poverty or politics. With ‘Sink,’ we are proving that our internal psychological landscapes — such as a family dealing with mental illness — are just as compelling and universally resonant.”

While developing the film, however, the filmmakers “faced pushback from traditional Western funding sources who asked why the characters didn’t fit their preconceived notions of a Jordanian family,” Alasad notes. “But modern Jordan is diverse, middle-class, and complex. As a producer, my job was to protect Zain’s authentic voice. We represent a new wave of cinema that refuses to exotify our culture for foreign audiences.”

Alasad says it was natural for him to re-team with Duraie after working together on the director’s 2019 short “Give Up the Ghost,” which premiered in Venice.

“She has a very unique voice from Jordan that travels well globally. She truly understands the craft of filmmaking and is the type of director any producer dreams of collaborating with.”

For Alasad, who works between Amman and Dubai, producing “Sink” was a “no-brainer.”

“From the first time Zain told me about the project, it felt deeply personal to her, to me, and to everyone involved. Dealing with mental health is something we haven’t explored enough; in the Arab world, it has often been a taboo subject. It was very important for us to bring this story to light.”

Gianluca Chakra, head of Dubai-based Front Row Productions, similarly notes that filmmakers in Jordan and across West Asia are creating works that are deeply rooted in their local environment, yet told through cinematic language that can travel.

It’s a quality that also defines Zaid Abu Hamdan’s crime thriller “Boomah,” which likewise unspools in Shanghai: “It embraces genre, strong characters and emotional storytelling while remaining connected to the social realities that inspired it.”

It is a film that “is locally rooted but internationally accessible,” he adds. “And it tells a story that feels specific to its environment while speaking to universal themes of dignity, survival, redemption and hope.”

More and more filmmakers across the region are moving in that direction, Chakra says.

“What excites me most is the confidence of the new generation of filmmakers. They are telling stories in their own voice, embracing local realities and trusting that authenticity will allow those stories to travel. There is a growing belief that Jordanian stories do not need to imitate anyone else in order to find audiences.

“Jordan may not be the largest market in the region, but it has become one of the most respected. That reputation has been earned through resilience, consistency and an unwavering commitment to storytelling.”

Among Jordan’s upcoming films are “Jo of Montreal,” by acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker Ameen Nayfeh, which Alasad is producing along with his brother, Bassam Alasad. The film follows Nayfeh’s award-winning 2020 debut feature, “200 Meters,” about a Palestinian family separated by the Israeli wall, which premiered in Venice. “Jo of Montreal” is set to start filming this year in Shobak, Jordan, and AlUla, Saudi Arabia. Alasad is also producing Lara Zidan’s debut feature, “Birthday,” which is scheduled to begin production at the end of the year.

Forthcoming docs include Kinda Kurdi’s “The Last Mayor of Jerusalem” and Hamza Hamidah’s “Asphalt,” both of which were also presented last year at the Amman Film Industry Days.

Since then, Janay Boulos, director and producer of “Birds of War” and a Sundance 2026 award winner, has joined Kurdi as a producer on “The Last Mayor of Jerusalem,” which blends archival material with dramatization and animation to tell the story of Rawhi Khatib, the last serving Palestinian mayor in Jerusalem. The project has also secured a Jordanian co-production partner as fundraising efforts continue.

“Asphalt,” produced by Mahmoud Massad, follows a young Palestinian refugee from Jordan’s Baqa’a camp who is forced to postpone his wedding due to the death of his relatives in Gaza. The film is currently in post production and editing.

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