34th edition of European Film Festival concludes

AMMAN — More than 3,400 people had the chance to watch European movies this year, in three different locations in Amman, Irbid and  Salt, during the 34th edition of the European Film Festival (EUFF). 

The festival concluded recently with the screening of the Jordanian film "Daughters of Abdul-Rahman", directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan, as Jordan was the guest of honour at this year's festival, according to a statement from organisers

The EUFF has been the European Union's cultural flagship event since it was first organised in 1989.

The closing ceremony was held at the Haya Cultural Centre Theatre in the presence of movie lovers and representatives of embassies and European cultural centres in Jordan.  During the ceremony, the winners of the “Mobile Film Competition” were also announced.

The Mobile Film Competition was organised in partnership with SAE Institute Jordan under three themes: Environmental change due to pollution, the age of artificial intelligence and women’s rights. The first place winner is Raja Yasin who won an iPhone 14 in addition to a full scholarship to join a filming course provided by SAE Amman. The second place winner is Lujain Mohammad and the third place was won by Bayan Abu Ta’ema; both received a full scholarship to attend a filming course provided by SAE Amman.

The European Film Festival is funded by the European Union (EU) in Jordan and co-organised with the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC). The festival is organised with the participation of the embassies of the EU Member States and European Cultural Institutes.

Johanna Rohaland- Lindner, Vice President EUNIC and Deputy Head of Mission at the Austrian Embassy Amman, said: “For the 34th time, we have worked together to continue the tradition of bringing audiences from Jordan and Europe together and creating a space to discover and better get to know one another.” 

“After two online editions in the past couple of years, we finally got to come together again in person. We hope that the past two weeks have been an opportunity not only to watch movies on the big screen, but also to meet and create new links,” she added. 

During 13 days, the festival presented the Jordanian audience with different film genres that varied from comedy to drama, documentaries and romance, in addition to others.

It featured 15 European films, including: "Civilization: a good news about the end of the world" - Czech Republic, " Never Gonna Snow Again" - Poland, "Oscar and Lily, Where No One Knows Us" - Austria, "My Donkey, My Lover and I" - France, "The Gods of Molenbeek" Belgium, “Family Member” - Cyprus, “Rumi Salon” - Netherlands, “The Audition” - Germany, “House of Dolls” - Romania, “Bubble Gum” - Bulgaria, “Fire Will Come” Spain, "Here Before" – Ireland, “I Run to You”- Italy, “Cold Case”- Sweden, and “The Reason I Jump”- UK. 

Furthermore, the festival included two sessions; a Q&A with the director of “House of Dolls” movie Tudor Platon, and a discussion panel following the screening of “The Reason I Jump”, which featured Autism experts Jemman Ammar, Mustafa Denou and Wa’d Abu-Zurayk. 

In order to promote European Films outside of Amman, three screenings were held in Irbid and Salt in cooperation with the Royal Film Commission, with an audience that mostly included university students.  

A free workshop about “Camera Movement & Shot Sizes” was also held in partnership with SAE Amman. 

The EUFF is the longest-running foreign film festival in Jordan. This year’s festival is held in partnership with the Media Commission, the Royal Film Commission, the Greater Amman Municipality, SAE Institute and LOYAC.