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.