Amman -

The dramatic documentary film "Sidi Najib...from the championship record" tells the story of the Jordanian hero Najeeb Saad Al-Ali Al-Batayneh, who deserted his homeland to fight with the men of the Libyan revolution against Italian colonialism, more than a century ago. Sidi Najib" and built a tomb for him in the "Al-Masous" area near Benghazi.

The film was shown as part of Irbid's series of events, "Capital of Arab Culture" - as announced by the United Nations Culture and Science Organization (UNESCO) for the year 2022 - and the text, dialogue and script were written by artist Aida Al-Amerkani, produced and supervised by Wasfi Al-Taweel, and directed by Naji Salama.

The idea for the business came from Ayed Alqam.

And his story revolves around one of the forgotten martyrs in our heroic history who did not come under the spotlight, "Bataineh", who received the martyrdom he wished for in 1914 as a solid fighter who did not relent or calm despite the brutality of the Italian army soldiers.

The documentary film deals with the issue of community and family education, and according to its details, the martyr al-Bataineh lived in a militant environment.

A shot showing the rebels inside a cave in one of the movie scenes (Al-Jazeera)

Education makes heroes

According to what the writer of the text, dialogue and scenario (the American) told Al Jazeera Net, the origin of the martyr's joining the Libyan resistance goes back to the roots of his upbringing at the hands of his father, which is a pan-Arab national education. , which made the son a man and a national hero, and “good education makes men,” as the writer says.

According to the content of the film, Batayneh participated through the Ottoman army in resisting the Italian invaders, and when the Ottomans withdrew and left Libya, he refused to withdraw and remained with his Libyan revolutionary brothers resisting until he was martyred.

Some sources indicate - as Al-Amerkani says - that Batayneh participated in some of the battles led by the militant Omar Al-Mukhtar, and the Libyan leader Ahmed Sharif Al-Senussi participated in his battles.

Documentation of events

On the objectivity of the documentary approach, Al-Amerkani said that it relied on reliable and confirmed sources, focusing on the national and Arab dimension, and the details were serious attempts and great and intense efforts to reach accurate information about the battles in which he participated or the details of his life.

Since “Sidi Najib .. From the Championship Record” is a dramatic documentary and not an abstract documentary, the director’s imagination has been entered in some details, for example, we do not know how the father al-Batayneh bid farewell to his son, and we do not know the exact details of the farewell scene, so it was recorded based on the writer and director’s perception The film's dialogues are purely written and are not based on documentary details because the story of our hero is forgotten, and there are not many references that mention the details of his life and career.

stage of national decline

It is certain that Batayneh studied at the Military College in Istanbul and was wounded in the battles and was martyred in the battle of “Al-Masous” near Benghazi by the bullets of the Italians.

Any path of struggle is not without a human side, and that is why the film could not transcend the presence of women in Batayneh’s life. He first married the Jordanian girl “Ashba” and in Libya he married “Fayza” from the “Al-Masous” area, and according to what Al-Amerkani explained, the woman had a presence, But because "Al-Bataineh" knew that his soul was on his palm, he returned his second wife to Jordan, and returned to the ranks of the revolutionaries in Libya to leave the beloved without having children and being martyred far from her and his family.

Al-Amerkani said, "As long as the past has been linked to the present, and now we are living through the stage of national and Arab decline and the rupture that leads us to the abyss, it is necessary to focus on such tournaments that were characterized by a unitary, national and Arab dimension, perhaps serving as an incentive or an example and an example for future generations," as she put it.

Credibility and imagination

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, the director of the documentary said that he resorted to the philosophy of intersection between reality and imagination, which enhances the delivery of the idea, feeling or required situation by enhancing the archival scene with a dramatic scene that is not realistic, but is in harmony with reality. More than just narration and relying on archives, it kills the viewer's boredom."

Director Naji Salama says he chose the intersecting narrative with fiction (Al Jazeera)

The director considered that the first option is a narration and mentioned only what is actually documented and has definitive evidence, while the second option is the realization of imagination and assumption based on the nature, thought, personality and mind of the character you are talking about. In fiction.

Directors are not judges

Regarding what is said that some directors set themselves judges on certain historical stations, Salama said, "I do not think that anyone has the right to set himself up as a judge or impose his personal opinion on the character or events covered by the artwork, and from my point of view, the documentary director should be as much as possible." Neutral, whether he likes or hates the character or is satisfied with the facts or not, objectivity and credibility are the basis for documentaries, and this is what we worked on.

When the director was asked about the future of documentary films, he replied, "The future is for what is new and renewal, and not only for the dramatic, documentary or dramatic, as the world is getting smaller and narrower and competition is intensifying, and the future is for the most creative."

As for the hero of the film, Zaid Al-Seyouf, he expressed his pride in playing the role of one of the heroes of Jordan who abandoned the joys of the world and left his homeland and his wife to fight in the ranks of the Libyan revolutionaries against Italian colonialism, and obtain martyrdom there.

The hero of the dramatic documentary, Zaid Al-Siouf, in one of the movie clips (Al-Jazeera)

The character is an exceptional hero

Al-Seouf told Al-Jazeera Net that he searched for a long time for the character of Al-Batayneh to embody it in a way that suits an exceptional hero, national stature and struggle, with the help of the writer and director, noting that he challenged himself to the point that he imagined himself as if he was in a real battle. in the wrath."

He said that he tried - through the personality of the martyr hero - to express the feelings that reside in the depths of a hunted fighter who lives in a cave and his comrades in arms share the national concern, the goal and the livelihood. The enemy monitors his movements and waits for martyrdom every moment, "It is a difficult but beautiful experience."

It is noteworthy that "Sidi Najib .. from the championship record" is the second written by the American artist, and was preceded by the documentary "Jerusalem is not far", which won the award for best screenplay at the Rabat Film Festival recently.

On the other hand, the American is preparing to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on the 29th of this month, at the Royal Cultural Center in central Amman, with poems by the late great poets Samih Al-Qasim, Mahmoud Darwish and Shahla Al-Kayyali, and the participation of poets Youssef Abdel Aziz, Ali Al-Batiri and Dahouk Al-Daoud, with an orchestra led by musician Abdel Halim Al-Khatib and directed by Mohamed Darrag.