Oscars: Jordan Selects ‘Inshallah A Boy’ For Best International Feature Film

Melanie Goodfellow
·2 min read

Jordan has submitted Amjad Al-Rasheed’s female inheritance rights drama Inshallah A Boy for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

The picture made history earlier this year when it became the first Jordanian feature film to premiere in Cannes, when it was selected for parallel section Cannes Critics’ Week.

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It won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution, putting $21,000 towards distribution costs in France.

Greenwich Entertainment acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film ahead of its North American premiere at TIFF earlier this month.

The Amman-set drama stars Muna Hawa as a newly widowed young woman, who is in danger of losing the home that she helped pay for with her late husband due to Jordan’s anachronistic inheritance laws.

In the face of pressure from her in-laws and with little support from her the wealthy household where she works as a carer for the ageing grandmother, she decides to fight back.

The film was inspired by the experiences of women in Al-Rasheed’s entourage.

Other cast members include Haitham Al-Omari, Salwa Nakkara, Yumna Marwan, Mohammad AI-Jizawi and Eslam Al-Awadi.

The film is produced by Imaginarium Films, with the support of the The Royal Film Commission – Jordan (RFC).

Jordan’s relatively young film industry began submitting films to the Oscars in 2008.

Its submissions to date include Amin Matalqa’s Captain Abu Raed (2008), Naji Abu Nowar’s Theeb (2015), Mai Masri’s 3000 Nights (2016), Ameen Nayfeh’s 200 Meters, Mohamed Diab’s Amira and Darin Sallam’s Farah.

Theeb was nominated, while Amira was withdrawn due to a political backlash against the film.

Pyramide International handles international sales.

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