According to a synopsis of the film, the events take place in a “suffocated neighborhood where gossip and violence dominate people’s behavior.” The film is directed by Oscar-nominated Basil Ghandour, who also co-wrote it.
The film, which has been shown on Netflix since the beginning of January, was severely attacked by a large number of citizens and some parliamentarians because of what they described as an obscene portrayal of society and vulgar use of language..
Representative Muhammad Abu Sa’ilik said, “Freedom of expression is protected by the constitution, and your freedom ends when it reaches the freedom of others. When your freedom reaches assault on others, your freedom stops. This is a flagrant attack on the freedom of others, their values, religion and beliefs. The owner of this film and all its financiers should be held accountable. If I were I was one of the residents of the neighborhood, and I filed a lawsuit before the Jordanian courts against everyone who funded and spent on this film, which depicted this neighborhood and this society in this miserable, gloomy image that is not true. We lived in these neighborhoods. We were born in these neighborhoods. Our neighborhoods are 90 percent of this. Our neighborhoods, and this is not our people, and this is not a citizen who deserves to be punished in truth“.
He added, “This reality contains something from it. I do not deny that reality can contain something like this, but we do not deliberately in art, and art is originally the duty of art to purify, the origin of art is to show the positive image of society, even if such expressions exist in reality, not What is required of art is to highlight it so that it is the reality, but what is required of society is that of art to highlight the positive side of society and generalize it so that it becomes the original and kills and conceals this reality that this film is talking about“.
The Jordanian writer said in a tweet on Twitter, “A movie without a Jordanian message, and in artistic terms, is low“.
On the other hand, many defended the film and said that it reveals some aspects of society and demanded the protection of freedom of expression.
Falah Mahmoud, a resident of the Jabal Al-Natheef neighborhood in eastern Amman, where the film was filmed, said, “This is our nature.“.
Ahmed Aisha, another resident of the neighborhood, said, “The reality represents all the marginalized neighborhoods in Jordan, whether it is in villages, in the desert, or in the capital.“.
Others, such as the Jordanian journalist and critic Israa Al-Radaydah, considered the current public debate as normal.
The film won many awards, such as the Audience Award at the Malmö Arab Film Festival, with a special mention from the jury.
#Oscar #nominated