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"Mabrook" to Jordan which marked the first Arab victory in the International Emmy Awards! Jordanian TV-Series "Al-Ijtiah", produced by Arab Telemedia Productions (ATP) won the Telenovela category in International Emmy Awards (it is the first-ever winner in this new category!). Other nominees from the same category were Lalola (Argentina), One Night of Love (Russia), Tropical Paradise (Brazil). Britain (as usual) was the country that won the most. An award was also given to "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf . Al-Ijtiah is a Palestinian love story that takes place against the backdrop of the Israeli incursion in Jenin Camp in 2002. It did not represent a major success (either financially or in popularity) and the majority of TV channels were very skeptical about it, most probably for its political background and for the nontraditional topic. Basically this TV-series is far from "Bedouin Drama", what Jordan is famous for. Actually no one can even doubt that Jordanian drama has made a great progress in the last years, just turn on the TV to watch well-reputed Jordanian series on MBC and other Arabic channels, and expect a flood of others for the next Ramadan season. So are we starting to produce plausible alternatives to Nour, Mohannad and other Turkish series?
Do you remember the movie they shot in Jerash about war in Iraq? I've found its trailer and the behind the scenes on YouTube, both clearly shows the downtown, Jerash citizens in their daily activities and even the famous Mitsubishi pickups used in Jordan. All this makes the film's location more similar to Jordan than Iraq. (Yes, I know there's little difference, but it is so evident they are in Jerash!!)
This is the link to the trailer cut to run at Cannes Film Festival in May. Movie is supposed to premier at the end of the year. The springy atmosphere and the green hills do contrast the tragic story, which reveals the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha in Iraq, allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb. New York Times asked if this film will be the Iraq's Apocalypse Now. About the movie, its name is Battle For Haditha, it is written and directed by Nick Broomfield, and it's now in post-production. Errata Corrige: I've mentioned before that the movie was Redacted, that is another movie shot in Jordan at the same time, I'm sorry but I've cited that citizens were not allowed to encounter the crew and ask about the film. And by the way, this morning I've read that DePalma's Redacted stuns Venice Film Festival!
The lives of the young refugees of Clarkston, Georgia, have drastically changed since their first meeting with Luma Mufleh, a Jordanian immigrant from Amman, and now a multi-million Hollywood movie will tell her story to the world.
In Clarkston, soccer is not only a game, it is a political issue. Last summer, Clarkston's Mayor has issued a decree to ban soccer in the city fields, he said he will only allow baseball in his city; the difference between his city and others is the high percentage of refugees that Clarkston hosts, most of them escaped from wars in countries like Kosovo, Liberia, Gambia and Iraq. As you can imagine, these refugees are not so estimated by original citizens, who think their American lifestyle is in danger after the new coming traditions, even soccer was accused to be something stranger and threatening, this was the time Americans discovered their fear of soccer .
Coach Luma, as she is called by Fugees boys, remembers when she was playing volleyball in her high school of Amman, she hated her coach because of their toughness, but after fifteen year she reveals she model herself after her school's coach, other sources of inspirations, she said, are Malcolm X, Mahatma Ghandi and Luma's grandmother that taught her to take care of others. Some rules are imposed by Luma to all Fugees' players: good grades, short hair, no drugs, no alcohol or getting girls pregnant. If you break a rule you will be off the team. She also offers an incentive: a pair of Nikes to anyone with straight A's.
Luma's rules and training built a better life for these young refugees, now the Fugees have a respectable second position in their division, performing better than their European-trained opposing players and elite wealthy clubs. Luma has also opened a cleaning service named Fresh Start after knowing that some of the players' moms were without jobs.
The efforts of Luma Mufleh will be soon revealed to the world by a Hollywood movie, in fact, after a huge bidding war, Universal Studios acquired the right and offered a $3 Millions and a new, modern green field for the Fugees, and it's only a matter of time before we can see Luma's amazing story in the cinemas.
Read More: - New York Times article that made Fugees story famous, by W. St. John - Ending up with more than a dream coming true : Jordan Times Article by R. Husseini - Jordanian coach starts refugee soccer team: In the Jordanian Blog Mental Maihem - Luma Mufleh's interview on the UNHCR Media site.
IMPORTANT: YOU CAN DONATE TO FUGEES FAMILY THE NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION OF MS. LAMA MUFLEH HERE. Labels: Jordan, Movies, What's on the web
 Leonardo DiCaprio will play the role of an ex-journalist, who is now a CIA agent sent to Amman to cooperate with the chief of General Intelligence Department in tracking down an Al-Qaeda leader planning to attack America. The movie is produced by Warner Bros and directed by the big Ridley Scott (director of Gladiator, Hannibal, Alien, Kingdom of Heaven...) From Variety.com :
The movie, named Body of Lies, is based on the book of David Ignatius, and it's about the CIA agent Roger Ferris, an ex-journalist newly stationed in Jordan after being wounded in Iraq. The first operation of Ferris is to eliminate a terrorist named Suleiman, but when this operation fails, Ferris is forced to adopt an innovative scheme modeled after a British plan used successfully against the Nazis. Ferris's plot to turn the terrorists against each other by sowing seeds of suspicion that their leaders are collaborating with the Americans puts his personal life in turmoil and threatens his professional relationship with the head of Jordanian intelligence. The novel has been labeled as the best spy thriller post-9/11
Big explosions, large columns of smoke, closed military zones... if you've paid a visit to Jerash and you've noticed all this, don't worry, I can assure you that there are no terrorist attacks, no real blasts, and everyone is okay... well, it's all fiction! It seems that Jerash in the last two weeks attracted major Hollywood producers; in fact, the city is hosting cameras, actors and (perhaps) a popular awarded director…  Rumors say that a major production firm is filming here in Jerash, most Jerashis say that the movie is about the war in Iraq (I've heard more specifically about Fallujah), however the police and the authorities do not permit anyone to come near the set, so I haven't seen any concrete thing and unfortunately I can't take any picture for this blog :( They are still shooting (they started April 14), making a big confusion in the city, until now we have roads closed and a lot of policemen in the zone (in addition to the explosions). Anyway, it's worth it if we can have Jerash featured on the silver screen... I mean implicitly featured since it's supposed to be in Iraq, I don't know...is Jerash so similar to Fallujah?! A little search on the net reveals the only movie now being filmed in Jordan is Redacted, a mixture of war stories about U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq, focusing on the modern forms of media covering the conflict with particular attention on blogs and web reporting.
 The movie is directed by Brian De Palma (wow) and produced by HDNET films, will be shot on high definition and released simultaneously in cinemas, on DVD and on TV; the release is scheduled for fall 2008. Brian DePalma is the director of Mission to Mars, Mission:Impossible, Scarface and Carlito's Way. The cast includes some not so-famous actors as Ty Jones (he is blogging about his experiences in Jordan), Patrick Caroll and Paul O'Brien.
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When Luma Mufleh had first known about the refugees' community of Clarkston, she filled all the buildings of their quarters with Arabic, English, French and Vietnamese posters, announcing the creation of a new soccer team, the Fugees . Surprisingly, 23 young kids were present on the first day of training, a relevant number if we take in consideration the economic difficulties of their families; this was a good step to offer some technical training to the children rather than playing barefoot in empty lots. 