The film “Amira”, which represented Jordan in the nominations for the 2022 Academy Awards, caused a great stir this week among Palestinians and Jordanians who saw it as an insult to the security prisoners in Israeli prisons and their families.
The film deals with the phenomenon of sperm smuggling of security prisoners who do not enjoy communion visits. Institutions dealing with prisoners ‘affairs claim that the film creates a stigma about the origins of prisoners’ children and is intended to rake in artistic achievements at the expense of prisoners. The creator of the film was forced to apologize and the screening of the film in Jordan was stopped.
The film tells the life of Amira, who was born following an attempt to smuggle semen from her father, who is in the Megiddo prison. During the plot, it becomes clear that a senior Israeli officer thwarted the smuggling attempt and is her real father. The piece will compete in the long international film category.
The Palestinian Ministry of Culture condemned the film, saying it was a “violation of the detainees’ dignity.” The Palestinian Journalists’ Organization said the film was a “national and moral crime.”
The film caused a stir on social media in Jordan and soon a hashtag spread calling for the nomination to be removed from the Oscars and to stop being screened at various festivals. Following this, the Royal Jordanian Film Commission issued a clarification that this is not a documentary film but only a fictional work.
Some surfers have accused the film of deliberately “provoking controversy at the expense of a humanitarian issue.” The greatest anger was directed at social media against the Jordanian lead actress, Grandpa Mubarak, who has been featured in Egyptian films in recent years.
The 45-year-old actress, who was born in Saudi Arabia, posted a message on the director’s Facebook page in which he wrote that since the film was shown in September at the Venice Film Festival and festivals in the Arab world, it has been watched by Arabs, Palestinians and audiences around the world. According to him, the consensus around the film has always been that he “presents the issue of prisoners in a positive and humane and critical way towards the occupation.”
It is worth noting that the film was directed by Egyptian director and writer Muhammad Diab and was produced in collaboration with Egyptians, Jordanians and Palestinians. The filmmakers also made it clear that it was intended to convey to the world “the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and their families.”
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