Amman-
In the middle of the Al-Joufeh area in the capital, Amman, the Jordanian writer and director Hanadi Alyan woven the story of the movie "Salma's House", the events of which tell the story of 3 women with different characters, who are not young girls.
The essence of the film revolves around how women control their lives, and determine their own destiny, away from playing the role of the victim.
"Salma's House" is the first Jordanian film to be shown in American cinemas. It was selected in official competition at the "Sinecoast" festival and the "Atlanta" Film Festival, as well as in another American festival that has not been announced yet, according to the film's director.
Al Jazeera Net interviewed writer and director Alyan and the film's heroines, to talk about this unique Jordanian and Arab achievement.
Jordanian Hanadi Alyan, director of the movie "Salma's House" (Al Jazeera)
the story
The story of the film revolves around 3 women: the talented baker Salma (played by the able artist Juliette Awad), her daughter Farah (Samira Al-Asir), who is going through marital problems, and Abu Farah's wife Lamia (Rania Al-Kurdi), who aspires to be famous on social media, But to no avail.
The fate of each of them is linked to the fate of the other, because they have to deal with each other after the death of a man named Bakri, who is Salma's ex-wife, Lamia's husband and Abu Farah.
The family’s financial situation is weak, so the women try to solve the complex problem of the inheritors as soon as possible, but all of them are stubborn, and the result was that they had to live together in the house they inherited in the Jabal Al-Joufa area in Amman.
movie heroines
The heroines of the film are 3 women: Salma (Juliet Awad), a talented baker who lives alone in an old and huge house overlooking the city center in Amman, and runs a non-profitable bakery, and her daughter Farah (Samira al-Asir).
"I am very happy with my participation in the film, which is a family movie with a comedic motif, and unfortunately there are few such films. Salma's house is close to the audience, and it presents a social reality."
And about her character in the movie, she explains, "My role in this movie is different from all the previous roles that I played. I embody the character of a strong working woman who suffers from marital problems," indicating that she agreed and enjoyed working very much with the director and artists Awad and Al-Kurdi, especially since the director gave them space to improvise, so he came out The work is a "real comedy".
The third character is "Lamia al-Shami", wife of Abu Farah (Rania al-Kurdi), who plays the role of a social figure obsessed with social networking sites.
"I am proud of my participation in this new Jordanian film, as it deals with a social story that combines drama and comedy in a smart way that develops both the characters and the story," Al-Kurdi said.
She added, "I play the role of Durra Salma in the film, and the two characters are completely different. Salma is from an older generation, and I embody the character of a wife who is only interested in social networking sites and appearances, until fate brings us together and we have to coexist with each other."
And Al-Kurdi added, "Lamia is a selfish and narcissistic character at the beginning, but the experience she went through changed her, so she turned to what is most important in this life," noting that she enjoyed the finer details of the character's embodiment, "from the way she spoke, dressed and walked until her jokes."
atypical characters
Regarding the film's characters, Olayan says, "The truth is, I had the honor to work with all the actors in the movie, but especially the three main roles." It can be said that the three characters left a great impact on viewers, because they are "real."
She continues, "Fortunately for me, Juliette, Rania and Samira expressed their admiration for the text, and this paved the way for a distinguished cooperation between us."
He speculates that the script motivated each of them in a different way, but the common reason in her opinion is that all roles are atypical, and "this created a challenge or a space for play and a field for art practice".
Alyan reveals that, "The common thing between the four of us is a great love for the profession and for acting, and then my task during the days of rehearsals and photography was to maintain a space that ensures that everyone remains within a creative atmosphere based on mutual understanding and respect, and in fact this created an environment that encourages creativity and a pleasant place to work." .
She explains, "We all learn from each other through the experience, and our communication was the reason why relationships on screen showed real and touching feelings."
Director of Salma's House: I hope that people will not underestimate Arab women (Al-Jazeera)
movie message
Regarding the film’s message, Olayan says, “As a writer and director, my concern is to create a situation and an atmosphere that stirs feelings, and to try as much as I can to stay away from indoctrination, because my belief is that the art of filmmaking is a language of communication between the film and the audience, so I must leave even a little space for the audience to explore a message for themselves.” ".
"But if I have hope, it is that people will not underestimate the Arab woman and the respect she deserves," she added.
Film industry and determinants
Director Olayan says, "The film was filmed in Jordan, in the Jabal Al-Joufeh area in Amman, and it took a month and a half," and its running time is 95 minutes, indicating that the difficulties are many. "Making a film of this type is like a miracle."
He explained, "Because making the film is difficult, I had great limitations that must be taken into consideration from the first stage and the text is still on paper, the most important of which is how I can approach a woven and coherent story with the existing resources and tools."
It turned out that the production of the film in fact would not have been possible without local support in Amman, "starting with the Royal Film Commission, passing through private companies, even at the level of people who had a role."
Competition in international festivals
"Thank God, the film was selected for official competition at the Cinecoast Festival and the Atlanta Film Festival, as well as in another American festival that has not been announced yet," says Alyan.
She adds that the first part of the "Sinecoast" festival was on the first of April, "thank God, the reactions from critics and the audience were beautiful and promising." The next show will be on May 1 in Atlanta at Cinema Plaza, the historic and oldest hall in the state Georgia, and the second part of Synecost will be in August in California.
Alyan says, "I am very happy that the film is nominated and competes with big films in these festivals, especially since American festivals have great competition." A feature film, including "Salma's House".
The only Arab competitor
"The truth is that we are very happy, because when international festivals program Arab films, these films usually convey certain topics, most of which are calamities and disasters in our region," says Alyan.
Therefore, "being a social film that tells daily stories unlike (the news), it was able to penetrate this view, and communicate with a foreign festival and audience on a human level, and this in itself makes me very happy."
Alyan hopes that there will be an openness to hear stories of this type in the world, affecting human feelings everywhere, regardless of social background and Orientalist outlook.