Inshallah A Boy: Jordan's Oscar Entry Receives Standing Ovation At Amman Film Festival

Amjad Al-Rasheed's Jordanian feature, INSHALLAH A BOY, premiered at the fifth Amman International Film Festival — Awal Film (AIFF) to a fully-booked screening and a long-standing ovation. The film is Jordan's entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Lauded as a "tense and accomplished directorial debut" by the New York Times, the film is competing in the Arab Feature Narrative Competition at AIFF from July 3rd to 11th. It will soon be released in theatres across Jordan and the GCC, showcasing its universal appeal and gripping narrative.

The premiere attracted numerous Arab celebrities, influencers, and media personalities. Members of the film's cast and crew were also present. The film tells the story of Nawal, a recently widowed woman who must save her daughter and home in a society where having a son is crucial.

In recent months, INSHALLAH A BOY toured theatres in France, receiving widespread acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Over 30 regional and international news outlets have praised the film, including Screen Daily, Variety, Al Jazeera, and Independent Arabia.

The film had its historic world premiere at Cannes' Critics Week as the first-ever Jordanian feature selected for the festival. It won two prestigious awards: the Gan Foundation Award and the Rail D'Or Award for Best Feature Film. Since then, it has screened at around 100 film festivals worldwide, winning over 20 awards.

Recent accolades include the Best Narrative Feature Award from the Muslim International Film Festival, Best Feature Fiction Award from the seventh Beirut International Women Film Festival, and Best First Film Award from Bengaluru International Film Festival.

Directed by Al-Rasheed and co-written with Delphine Agut and Rula Nasser, INSHALLAH A BOY stars Mouna Hawa, Haitham Omari, Salwa Nakkara, Yumna Marwan, Mohammad Al-Jizawi, Islam Al-Awadi, and Celina Rabab'a. The film was produced by Nasser and Abu Ayyash; co-produced by Youssef Abdelnabi, Raphaël Alexandre, and Nicolas Leprêtre; associate produced by Alaa Karkouti, Maher Diab, and Shahinaz El-Akkad.

The technical team includes Kanamé Onoyama as cinematographer (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Ahmed Hafez as editor (Moon Knight), Nour Halawani as sound mixer, Jerry Lane as composer. Zeina Soufan served as costume designer while Nasser Zoubi was production designer.

The film was produced by Imaginarium Films with co-production from Georges Films and Bayt Al-Shawareb. MAD Distribution and Lagoonie Film Production handle sales and distribution in Arab-speaking regions while Pyramide International manages international sales in France.

Al-Rasheed holds an MFA in cinematic arts with a focus on directing and editing. In 2016 he was named one of Screen International’s five Arab Stars of Tomorrow. He attended Talent Campus during Berlinale's 57th edition before directing short films that won various awards.

His notable works include THE PARROT (2016), HIT THE ROAD (2011), BITTER DAYS (2010). THE PARROT won multiple international awards including Jury Prize at Twin Cities Arab Film Festivals in Minnesota and Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden.

Rula Nasser is an independent Jordanian producer with extensive experience in commercials, TV series, low-budget films to big-budget studio films. She began her career with BBC and Discovery before working five years with Jordanian Royal Film Commission. In 2011 she founded The Imaginarium Films which has seen selections at Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Toronto festivals.

The collaboration between Amjad Al-Rasheed and MAD Solutions continues to thrive following their previous success with THE PARROT which premiered at Dubai International Film Festival in 2016.