Jordan’s Royal Film Commission has withdrawn its submission to the 2022 international feature Oscar race following a backlash against the film.
The controversial film “Amira” was inspired by a real-life incidents in which Palestinian children were conceived using the smuggled sperm of their fathers who were imprisoned in Israeli jails.
It revolves around a teenage girl who believes she was conceived from the sperm of a famous Palestinian activist serving a life term. Her life falls apart when a DNA test reveals he is not her biological father, leading to the discovery that the sperm was swapped as it was being transported from the prison to her mother.
The film came under backlash from Palestinians with family members in Israeli jails, who accused “Amira” of undermining the Palestinian cause.
The film’s director Mohamed Diab announced that the film’s screening has stopped. Diab acknowledged the complaints, explaining that he understood the anger expressed by many over what they think was an unfair representation of prisoners and their families, but he asked them to watch the film before judging it.
He stressed that Palestinian prisoners and their feelings were the film’s top priority.
“Therefore, all screenings of the film will be stopped, and we demand the establishment of a specialised committee by the prisoners’ families to watch and discuss it. We believe in the purity of what we presented in the Amira film,” added Diab.
Diab said that the plot involving smuggled Israeli sperm is clearly fictional “and cannot happen,” pointing to a disclaimer at the end of the film that states that the more than 100 children born through this smuggling process since 2012 “have been confirmed as offspring” of their Palestinian fathers.
Though the paternity of these children has been confirmed, it is still unknown exactly how the sperm was smuggled.
The statement came after an online campaign was launched by Palestinian and Jordanian activists under the calling for the boycotting of the movie.
Amira, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won two major awards, was selected by Jordan’s Royal Film Commission to represent the country in next year’s Oscar race.
The Commission said: “We do believe in the artistic value of the film and that its message doesn’t harm in any way the Palestinian cause or that of the prisoners; on the contrary, it highlights their plight, their resilience as well as their willingness to live a decent life in spite of the occupation.”
“However, in light of the recent controversy the film has triggered and the perception by some that it is detrimental to the Palestinian cause and out of respect to the feelings of the prisoners and their families, the Royal Film Commission has taken the decision to not have Amira representing Jordan in the Oscars 2022,” the statement added.
Lydia Rimawi, wife of captive Abdulkareem Al-Rimawi, shared her experience on Facebook, saying that she’s proud to have given birth through smuggled sperm.
Describing the scene when she visited her husband in prison with their three-week-old son, Majd, she said “that is when I saw the fear and horror in the soldiers’ eyes. A large number of soldiers gathered around me and the Israeli Red Cross came to check whether this child was the son of a prisoner.”
“We were denied a visit and stayed in the prison yard; this scene gave me strength, pride and courage. I was proud to give my husband hope and make our dream come true,” she added.
“Amira will not break us and the glory will remain. No one on earth can doubt it,” she continued.
The Palestinian Legislative Council also condemned the movie, with Deputy Speaker Hassan Khreisha saying that Amira is a dangerous part of the Israeli war that is waged daily against the Palestinian people.
He pointed out that the film deliberately offended the sacrifices of the prisoners, saying “the film is among the accumulated abuses against the prisoner movement that has managed to force the wardens to respond to its demands.”
In a press statement issued by the council on Wednesday, Committee Chairman MP Muhammad Zahrawi called for the film to be banned from Jordanian theatres and urged production companies to make films that support Palestinian prisoners’ rights in their struggle behind bars, rather than distorting the facts.
Shortly after, the Head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr said that Jordan had officially decided to stop showing the movie in Amman.
Though set in Palestine, it was shot in Amman and Salt. The cast includes Jordanian actors Saba Mubarak, Tara Abboud – who plays the role of Amira – and Suhaib Nashawan, as well as the Palestinian actors Ali Suliman, Waleed Zuaiter and Kais Nashif.
