AMMAN — The Amman International Film Festival (AIFF) has never chased glitz. There hasn’t been a red carpet in two years, in solidarity with Gaza. Nor any scramble for premieres. Instead, what unfolded in Jordan’s capital this year was something more resonant: a cinematic call to action. From war-zone documentaries to genre-defying web series and energetic policy shifts, here are five key takeaways from Variety’s coverage on the ground in Amman.
Jordan Isn’t Just Open for Business … It’s Building An Industry
With a revamped 45% cash rebate — plus full tax exemptions — Jordan has officially become significantly more attractive as a filming destinations. “We studied every rival territory, from Abu Dhabi to Australia,” said Royal Film Commission managing director Mohannad Al-Bakri. “Between the rebate, zero taxes and crews that can step straight onto a Marvel set, Jordan is now the region’s most cost-effective option.” The pitch goes beyond numbers. Prince Ali bin Hussein, who chairs the RFC board, emphasized a broader vision: “What we want is to use that experience to continue building our own industry, whether it’s reaching the Oscars with our own films or creating a space where people have the freedom to tell their stories.”
With fast permits, skilled local crews and cinematic landscapes from Wadi Rum to Petra to Amman’s bustling streets, Jordan is making a clear play: not just to host global productions, but to anchor its own.
Arab Creators Aren’t Waiting for Permission
Across every venue, from AIFF’s Pitching Platforms to its Spark Series, a clear message emerged: Arab filmmakers are moving with or sometimes without institutional gatekeepers. They’re not only telling urgent stories of war, exile and inherited trauma, they’re doing so through bold, genre-defying forms: magical realism, hybrid formats and unapologetically personal narratives.
For Pitching Platforms jury member and Fipresci critic Eduardo Guillot, this creative risk-taking sends a message to the global film industry: “There’s a need to tell stories from a perspective that many international festivals ignore or consider exotic, but without which contemporary cinema cannot afford to move forward.”
Lebanese director, Maria Ghafary (“Bodies on the Margins”), who participated in the Spark workshops, a first-of-its kind platform for web series in West Asia, said it more bluntly: “I didn’t wait for approval. I just created.”
That energy fuelled dozens of projects, including Moroccan filmmaker Ali Benchekroune’s genre thriller “Testosterone.” “We want to move beyond stereotypes,” he asserted. “And offer raw, complex, impactful stories.”
As Oscar-nominated Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan (“In the Name of the Father,” “My Left Foot”) noted during his AIFF masterclass: “They’re pushing through with or without funding. The talent is there. What they need now is backing, not barriers.”
AIFF Workshop
Courtesy of Amman International Film Festival
Gaza Is a Story of Life, Not Just Loss
One of the festival’s most searing and intimate showcases was From Ground Zero+, a slate of five short films made inside Gaza by Palestinian filmmakers during the ongoing war. These weren’t outsider accounts. Instead, they were created by artists living the reality they depict, offering a rare cinematic window into life under siege.
“These aren’t films about Gaza,” explained festival director Nada Doumani. “They’re made by people living it. They’re not looking in from the outside.”
Oscar shortlisted for the 2025 International Feature Film Academy Award, the feature’s films include “Very Small Dreams,” which follows a young woman navigating healthcare access, and “The Clown of Gaza,” about a street performer lifting spirits in displaced communities, pushed past tropes of victimhood. They portrayed resilience, humor and moments of everyday beauty.
“Even under siege, there’s beauty. There’s creativity. Gaza is not just rubble. It’s poetry, it’s cinema,” affirmed veteran Palestine filmmaker Rashid Mashawari, who co-ordinates the initiative.
By backing From Ground Zero+, the festival didn’t just spotlight suffering, rather they championed storytelling as a form of resistance, memory, and survival.
Web Series Are the Arab World’s Next Cinematic Frontier
For years, short-form series were dismissed as “online content.” Not anymore. At AIFF’s first-ever Spark Series, curated by Lebanese filmmaker and intuitive artist Muriel Aboulrouss, web creators were treated as equals, and the results were electric.
“This format gives artists freedom,” said Aboulrouss. “They don’t need a distributor or broadcaster. They can fund, shoot and publish their stories themselves.”
The series “Unframed,” “Taste of Arrival,” and “Bodies on the Margins” each defied conventional funding models and festival formats. For Aboulrouss, the movement is just beginning: “It was born in Amman, but it should travel. It’s time web series were treated not as lesser works, but as vital stories told on our own terms.”
Amman Is Betting on People, Not Prestige
There’s no scramble for A-list guests. No red carpet in sight. And that’s by design. “The region is bleeding,” said Doumani. “Our stories matter. Sometimes the message takes precedence over technique.”
This is a festival that sees cinema not as luxury but as a lifeline. A place where new voices, like “The Masters of Magic and Beauty” director Jad Chahine, can reimagine gender, lineage, and rebellion in mythic terms. “It’s not about shock,” he explained. “It’s about exposing the fragility of systems we’re taught to trust.”
That philosophy extends to the next generation. Workshops on AI, led by Finnish producer Aleksi Hyvärinen, explored creative ethics in tech without hype or panic. “AI is just another tool,” said Jordanian filmmaker Anwaar Al-Shawabkeh. “We need to explore both its strengths and limitations.”
And it all comes back to Jordan. As Prince Ali bin Hussein told Variety: “In Jordan, filmmakers are free to tell the stories they want. We don’t read scripts, for example. So it’s about experience. Come here, enjoy it, and create.
