Jordan emerges as a winner thanks to success of 'The Hurt Locker'

By Saleh Zaitoun in Amman
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-03-15

[Royal Film Commission of Jordan] 'The Hurt Locker' was filmed entirely in Jordan.

When the American film The Hurt Locker received six Academy Awards at the Oscars' ceremony, the film's production team celebrated, and Jordanians rejoiced.

Because the movie was shot entirely in Jordan, it was much like a tourism award.

The film's director, Kathryn Bigelow, said in her acceptance speech, "I would like to thank the Jordanian people who displayed warm hospitality while we were shooting the film." The film, which was praised by critics, won best picture, best director, best screenplay, best sound editing, best sound mixing and best film editing.

Regarding the choice of Jordan as the shooting location, Bigelow said in a press release that "the shooting in Jordan was a great experience. Jordan has a varied landscape, and there is an excellent cinematographic industry and a film-making infrastructure that is growing."

Maha Al-Khatib, Jordan's tourism minister, told Al-Shorfa in a telephone interview that she was "overwhelmed with joy" for the appreciative remarks that Bigelow made and welcomed the unprecedented promotion as a tourist destination Jordan would receive as a result of the film's success.

Al-Khatib added that "the film, which will be watched by millions around the world, will get them more acquainted with Jordan, which is something that would have been impossible to realize even with the most intensive advertising campaign promoting Jordan."

"The advantage that Jordan will gain from this will not be limited to the expected boost to tourism, but the film will put Jordan on the stage of world cinema," said Nada Doumani, communication and culture advisor for the Royal Film Commission of Jordan.

Doumani told Al-Shorfa that "Jordan and the Royal Film Commission of Jordan both share pride in this great achievement in cinema. The Hurt Locker was filmed almost entirely in Jordan over a period of two months in the summer of 2007. The geography, the natural locations and the architectural patterns, as well as the local inhabitants combined to make the shooting of this film a success. Bigelow said that the location was excellent, you could look 360 degrees around you on any given day of the shoot and it would be perfect."

However, Jordan's contribution to the film went beyond providing locations. The American crew worked closely with the Jordanian team, collaborating with some 70 Jordanian technicians and 150 local actors and extras. Ray Beckett, who won the Oscar award for best sound mixing, thanked the Jordanian team during the ceremony, mentioning Baha Othman, head of the Sound Department at the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts, which is located in Aqaba in southern Jordan.

According to Princess Reem Ali, member of the Board of Commissioners of the Royal Film Commission of Jordan, the commission received praise for its high level of professionalism and its efforts to overcome bureaucratic hurdles.

She said in a press statement that "the most important factor that attracts production teams to Jordan is the flexibility with which they can work here and the ability to use their imagination to depict locations in Jordan as if they were other locations around the world."

Princess Reem mentioned the positive effects that attracting international filmmakers to Jordan will have saying that "in addition to the economic benefits, foreign filmmakers will gain a better knowledge of the country and the Middle East region. However, what is important is not just having an impact on the international level, but also to tell our stories and to work towards creating our own cultural legacy for future generations through cinema."

According to the Royal Film Commission of Jordan, approximately $7 million was spent in Jordan during the shooting of The Hurt Locker.

Other movies that were filmed in Jordan and won Academy Awards include Lawrence of Arabia directed by David Lean, which won seven Oscars in 1962, and Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, which won an Oscar in 1989.

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