Amman Filmmakers Cooperative

Our Magical Disappearing Acts versus
Our Status as Indie Filmmakers
By Hazim Bitar

You know you are a truly independent filmmaker or filmmaking group in Jordan when the leading official newspaper and ministry of culture pretend you don't exist.

Therefore, we are proud to announce the NON-EXISTENCE of the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative. This is how it goes:

- Franco-Arab Film Festival
At this festival, we are a co-sponsor like the royal film commission and we have 6 films in the short film competition but we are not mentioned anywhere in the announcement in Al-Rai newspaper, Jordan's leading official paper.
URL: http://tinyurl.com/47658e (Arabic)
Download PDFformat : http://tinyurl.com/4atbac (Arabic)

- Ohran Film Festival in Algeria
At this festival, our film, I AM READY, has been selected as the sole Jordanian film. In this Al-Rai article about the festival, there is no mention of our film.
URL: http://tinyurl.com/4vpmbf (Arabic)
Download PDF : http://tinyurl.com/4de7jj (Arabic)

- The Jordan Ministry of Culture
Considering we have over 50 films of which 20 have been selected to film festivals, including some of the world's leading festivals, yet not once are we mentioned in the ministry of culture page on Jordanian cinema.
URL: http://tinyurl.com/6hp8lv (Arabic)
Download PDF : http://tinyurl.com/5fke6g (Arabic)

As the most productive and most established filmmaking initiative in Jordan, with a proven track record to boot, we fail to see any rational reason behind this bizarre behavior.

This is but a small sample of the history of our official non-existence which stretches back a couple of years now, with a few rare but notable exceptions. Yet some say we should count our blessings. The alternative could have been a full frontal assault on our existence. In that case, maybe it's better to remain invisible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Hazim Bitar is the non-founder and non-director of the non-Amman non-Filmmakers non-Cooperative.

For more information, visit our non-existent website
http://JordanianFilms.com

This article does not exist.

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