RFC to screen documentary depicting childrens’ lives in Zaatari camp

AMMAN — The “shocking numbers” of displaced people throughout the world prompted the Royal Film Commission - Jordan (RFC) to screen the documentary “Zaatari Djinn”, according to an organiser. 

The Dutch film, directed by Catherine van Campen, provides an insight into the life inside Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan’s largest refugee camp located some 90km northeast of Amman. 

Marian Nakho, the RFC’s media and communications coordinator, said the film will be screened at 9:30pm on Tuesday at the RFC’s premises in Jabal Amman, with the aim of marking World Refugee Day on Tuesday. 

“This event is the talk of the hour all over the world, and particularly in Jordan, given the fact that the Kingdom hosts a great number of refugees,” she told The Jordan Times. 

Nakho commented on UNHCR figures related to the number of refugees, displaced people and individuals who are seeking refuge, saying that: “There are around 65 million people in those three previous categories.”  

“These are scary and huge numbers indeed,” Nakho added.

She noted that the film, shot inside the camp, highlights normal life at the camp and the challenges faced by refugees, with a special focus on children, who make up half of the camp’s residents.

“The RFC is dedicated to screening films that have a meaning,” Nakho said, adding that “RFC contacted the film’s producer and now, we will screen it in cooperation with UNHCR.” 

“Zaatari Djinn” is an intimate portrait of the resilience of children. In the middle of the Jordanian desert, tents were set up for hundreds of refugees. Then, quick as lightning, arose Zaatari, a new “city” with improvised shacks and caravans, where over half the population are children, a RFC statement stated. 

The film has won awards at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the Standing Up Competition at Cleveland International Film Festival, the Human Rights Competition at Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival and the NEW DOCS Competition at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. It also featured at the Freiburg Film Forum and Chagrin Documentary Film Festival.     

“Cinema plays an important role in raising people’s awareness about refugees and attracts the attention of the international community to the positive role played by Jordan for the sake of refugees,” Nakho noted.