Jordanian Filmmakers Reject Western Funder Stereotypes
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- Alaa Alasad, producer at Amman-based Tabi360, says Jordanian and West Asian filmmakers are shifting toward "universal human experiences over cultural stereotypes," and produced Zain Duraie's "Sink" (screening at Shanghai) about a mother navigating her teenage son's mental disorder—a subject he calls largely taboo in the Arab world.
- Zain Duraie's feature debut "Sink" faced "pushback from traditional Western funding sources" who asked why the characters didn't fit their "preconceived notions of a Jordanian family," according to Alasad; the film follows her 2019 Venice-premiering short "Give Up the Ghost."
- Khaled Al Khaldi's documentary "Amal," which follows two Syrian sisters—survivors of early marriage—whose lives diverge after displacement (one in Zaatari camp, one in Amman), won two Amman awards in 2024, secured Jordan Film Fund production support and is heading to First Cut Lab Doha; the fall of the Assad regime forced "substantial revisions" including a protagonist's return to Syria.
- Zaid Abu Hamdan's crime thriller "Boomah," also unspooling at Shanghai, is described by Gianluca Chakra of Front Row Productions as "locally rooted but internationally accessible," tackling universal themes of "dignity, survival, redemption and hope."
- Ameen Nayfeh's "Jo of Montreal," produced by Alaa and Bassam Alasad, is set to start filming this year in Shobak, Jordan and AlUla, Saudi Arabia—following his 2020 Venice-premiering debut "200 Meters" about a Palestinian family separated by the Israeli wall.
- Kinda Kurdi's "The Last Mayor of Jerusalem" has added Sundance 2026 award winner Janay Boulos as producer; the hybrid archival-dramatization-animation film tells the story of Rawhi Khatib, the last serving Palestinian mayor in Jerusalem, and has secured a Jordanian co-production partner.
- Hamza Hamidah's "Asphalt," produced by Mahmoud Massad, follows a Palestinian refugee from Jordan's Baqa'a camp forced to postpone his wedding after relatives die in Gaza; the film is currently in post-production.
Why it matters: Alasad's account of Western funders asking why 'Sink's' characters don't match their stereotypes reveals a real funding wall, not just a vibe shift: Jordanian filmmakers who reject war-and-poverty framing risk losing international capital. The Jordan Film Fund, Royal Film Commission and Amman Film Festival ecosystem is filling that gap—backing projects that claim the right to tell "intimate, deeply human stories without needing to justify them through a geopolitical lens."
