28th European Film Festival to open on Wednesday with ‘new skin’

AMMAN — The 28th European Film Festival opens on Wednesday in a "new skin", marking the transition from a set of screenings into a fully-fledged festival, according to organisers. 

The film festival, the longest-running in the Kingdom, will be held this year under the theme “new trends in European cinema”, and will include musical performances, panel discussions, more digital engagement and a joint European-Jordanian graffiti project, organisers announced at a press conference on Monday at the Royal Film Commission (RFC).

Spanning over six days, the festival will screen 11 recent European productions at the RFC and the Rainbow Theatre in Jabal Amman, after which films will be screened at four universities across the Kingdom.

The event, implemented by the European Union National Institute of Culture (EUNIC) in partnership with the RFC, will open at the RFC headquarters with a musical performance and a panel discussion on the "role and importance of cinema in Europe and Jordan", after which the French documentary "Chante ton Bac d'abord" (We did it on a song) will be screened.

HRH Princess Rym Ali, member of the RFC Board of Commissioners, EU Ambassador Andrea Matteo Fontana, French Ambassador David Bertolotti and Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji will take part in the panel discussion, as well as Jordanian writer and producer Bassel Ghandour, best known for his Oscar-nominated feature film "Theeb". 

EU and EUNIC representatives highlighted their efforts to breathe “fresh air” into this year’s festival, and to make it more engaging for local and regional audiences.

"We put a lot of effort into the festival; this is, for us, the major cultural event of the year, so our objective is that in the long run, we will make it a more interesting and engaging festival for the local audience, for the regional audience, and maybe in the future for the international audience as well," a representative of the EU delegation said.  

"We have a new team, new priorities and a new vision for cinema and culture in Jordan. This is the first step in bringing this festival to the level that we are aiming for," the representative added. 

All films on the programme are award-winning productions from the last two years, said the organisers, adding that they will be introduced by a representative of the European embassy sponsoring the screening. 

What is special about this year's festival, the representative noted, is hosting cinema-themed discussions to "build a bridge between European cinema and Jordanian cinema".

Nada Doumani, RFC communication and culture manager, highlighted the importance of opening up to European and foreign cinema and culture in facing extremism in the community, through establishing "acceptance of the other" and "the right to difference".

Two films from a variety of European countries will be screened daily at the RFC and Rainbow Theatre — at 6:30pm and at 8:30pm — throughout the festival, for which entrance is free.

Among the films to be screened during the event are the Oscar-nominated "The Salt of the Earth" from Germany on Saturday, and the Spanish "La Isla Minima" (Marshland), which won 45 international awards, on Sunday.

The festival will conclude with a musical event at Nofa Creative Space on Rainbow Street next Monday.

More information on the festival is available on its website
www.euffjordan.com.