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Jordan Short Film Festival (JSFF))
The JSFF is Jordan's first short film festival aimed at disseminating a culture of contemporary non-commercial filmmaking.Amman Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC)
Founded in 2002 as a cine club, The Amman Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC) began as a social network of cinema lovers. In 2003, the cooperative started offering filmmaking workshop and production support to indie filmmakers. The Cooperative is a not-for-profit cultural initiative and talent incubator which seeks to promote independent Jordanian and Palestinian Diaspora filmmaking through training, experimentation, and networking. The Cooperative is a second chance for persons who never had the chance to learn filmmaking through formal intuitions.
THYME GOES ON
Director: Hazim Bitar / Writer: Hazim Bitar / Producer: Hazim Bitar / Documentary / 60 min. / 2008Synopsis: This film is a personal journey for a Palestinian diaspora filmmaker into the underground culture of a refugee camp and how a Black Palestinian bedouin tribe in the camp transforms the Dabkeh folkloric foot dance into a tool of economic and cultural survival in exile. To some in the tribe, dancing is about entertainment and identity. Others see it a form of cultural resistance in the Diaspora and a struggle against oblivion. But they all agree that it must be passed on to the younger generations.
FROM NOWHERE WITH LOVE (PRE-PRODUCTION)
Director: Hazim Bitar / Scriptwriter: Hazim Bitar / Feature Fiction / 90 min. / TBDSynopsis: A brother and his sister struggle to escape the ghetto of the refugee camp, with the help of a man with a troubled past.
Competitive Selections: Open Doors 2007 @ Locarno Int'l Film Festival. EAVE @ Dubai Int'l Film Festival 2007.
THE VIEW
Directors: Hazim Bitar & Rifqi Assaf / Scriptwriter: Hazim Bitar & Rifqi Assaf / Dialoug: Hazim Bitar / Fiction / 16 min / 2008Synopsis: An Israeli sniper suffers mission drift during a stakeout of a Palestinian couple. This film explores the psychology of violence in the absence of restraints.As of Oct 1, 2008, The View has been selected the Franco-Arab Film Festival competition (08), Ismailia Film Festival (08) competition, Egypt. Middle East International Film Festival (08) competition, UAE. Boston Palestine Film Festival (08), USA. San Francisco Arab Film Festival (08), USA. Golden Menbar Film Festival (08) competition, Russia. Golden Taghit Film Festival (08), Algeria.
- Winner of Best Short Film at the Franco-Arab Film Festival 2008 (1400 USD)
- Winner of Best Short Film at the Middle East Intermational Film Festival 2008 (75000 USD)
SHARAR
Directors: Hazim Bitar, Ammar Quttaineh, Saleh Kasem
Producer: Hazim Bitar / Writer: Hazim Bitar / Drama / 17 min. / 2006Synopsis: A blue-collar worker is unhappy with his job but the limited choices don't leave him with too many options.
Official Selection:Academy-certified Locarno Film Festival (06) competition, Switzerland. Academy-certified Clermont-Ferrand Int'l Short Film Festival (06) competition, France. Biennale des cinémas arabes à Paris (06) competition, France. Tangier Short Film Festival (06) competition, Morocco. International Panorama of Independent Film and Video (06) competition, Greece. Jordan Short Film Festival (06) competition, Jordan. KAN Amateur and Independent Cinema Festival (07), Poland. Warda Short Film Festival (06), Syria. Emirates Film Competition (07), UAE. 5ème Festival Signes de Nuit (07) competition, France. San Francisco Arab Film Festival (07), USA. Azru Film Festival (08), Morocco. Brussels Arab Film Festival (08), Belgium.
GROWING UP IN AMMAN'S SUBURBIA
Director: Hazim Bitar / Documentary / 9 min. / 2006
Synopsis: Rich or poor, rain or shine, the children must play, and life is their ultimate caretaker, always working in unexpected ways to ease the children into the world of grown ups.Official Selection: Academy-certified Huesca Film Festival (06) competition, Spain. Academy-certified Tampere Film Festival (08), Finland. Magma Film Festival (06) Winner of Best Documentary, Italy. Jordan Short Film Festival (06) , Jordan. Academy-certified Seagate Foyle Film Festival (06), Ireland. Con-Can Film Festival (07) competition, Japan. Izmir International Short Film Festival (06), Turkey. KAN Amateur and Independent Cinema Festival (07), Poland. San Francisco Arab Film Festival (07), USA.
OVERDOSE
Director: Ammar Quttaineh / Writers: Hazim Bitar & Ammar Quttaineh / Producer: Hazim Bitar / Comedy / 13 min. / 2005
Synopsis: A journalist is confronted with the changing realities of news reporting where money and power dictate the truth. In her quest to overcome her confusion, she seeks comfort and advice in unlikely places.Official Selection: Academy-certified Tampere Short Film Festival (06), Finland. Panorama of Independent Film and Video (05) competition, Greece. Warda Short Film Festival (06), Syria. Festival du monde arabe de Montréal (05), Canada. Ismailia Film Festival (05) competition, Egypt. Tangier Short Film Festival (05) competition , Morocco. Emirates Film Competition (05), UAE. Audience Golden Choice Award at the Jordanian Short Film Festival (05). Jordanian Short Film (05) Winner of Golden Award. Tahran Short Film Festival (06) competition, Iran. Augsburg Film Festival (07), Germany. Izmir International Short Film Festival (06), Turkey. Carthage Film Festival (07), Tunisia. San Francisco Arab Film Festival (07), USA. The International Festival of Video Art of Casablanca (07), Morocco. San Francisco Arab Film Festival (07), USA.
INFORMATIONAL FILM PRODUCTIONS
ABUSED REFUGEE WOMEN & UNRWA'S RESPONSE
Director: Hazim Bitar / Documentary / 11 min. / 2008Synopsis: Adding to the pain of exile, women refugees must coupe with lack of resources when confronted with abuse. To respond to these abuses, UNRWA's Legal Advice Bureau was launched to empower women in refugee camps in Jordan to stand up for their rights.
Producer: UNRWA Jordan
THE LIGHTHOUSE: ABDULHAMEED SHOMAN FOUNDATION
Director: Hazim Bitar / Documentary / 10 min. / 2007
An informational film about Jordan's leading cultural foundation.Producer: Abdulhameed Shoman Foundation
JRF AND COMMUNITIES OF HOPE
Director: Hazim Bitar / Documentary /13 min. / 2004
A series of short films on human interest stories from communities in Jordan, whose lives have been touched by the programs and people of the Jordan River Foundation (JRF).Producer: Jordan River Foundation
TEACHING HEYAM: GIRLS' EDUCATION IN RURAL SYRIA
Director: Hazim Bitar / Documentary / 12 min. / 2003
Synopsis: Heyam is a 13-year-old girl living in the Syrian village of Shmaytieha in the province of Deir Ezzour. When her father passed away and her eldest brother was conscripted, she and her sisters had to leave school to care for the farm and support the family's meager income. Fortunately, with the help of UNICEF, specialized educational programs in rural schools have been introduced to help keep more girls like Heyam studying for a better future.Producer: UNICEF MENA.
GIRLS' EDUCATION UNDER SIEGE IN HEBRON
Director: Hazim Bitar / Documentary / 5 min. / 2003
Synopsis: Frequent curfews imposed by the Israeli military in Hebron and the constant clashes during the second Intifada have resulted in decreasing attendance for both Palestinian teachers and students. Naturally, girls are the most vulnerable segment of the population in such a security situation. Yet teachers and parents, with UNICEF support, have devised a workable scheme to promote learning for girls in Hebron via a set of practices referred to as the Distance Remedial Education Project (DREP). Local TV stations in cooperation with the local school system, introduced educational broadcasts and developed take-home workshops, to ensure girls in Hebron are not left behind.Producer: UNICEF MENA.
JERUSALEM'S HIGH COST OF LIVING
Director: Hazim Bitar / Documentary / 53 min. / 2002
Synopsis: A Palestinian-American filmmaker's account of the first days of the September 2000 Jerusalem uprising and the ordeal of a Palestinian family from Old City Jerusalem.
UNCIVIL LIBERTIES: SECRET TRIALS IN AMERICA
Director: Hazim Bitar / Documentary / 30 min. / 2000
Synopsis: When the US Constitution is reduced to clichés, innocent people pay. A stateless Palestinian professor, Mazen Al Najjar, languished in a Florida solitary confinement for over 4 years on classified evidence that neither he nor his lawyer were allowed to review, despite favorable rulings by his judges. More...CONTACTPhone: +962 776.400.434
Contact: ArabFilmmakers(at)gmail.comBIOGRAPHYHazim Bitar is a Palestinian-Jordanian producer, writer, and director. He founded the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative, which serves as the launching pad for some of Jordan's leading independent filmmakers. Since its founding, the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative has provided cinema education to hundreds of Jordanians and Palestinians, mainly in disadvantaged areas.
His credits include numerous award-winning documentaries and films; his cooperative has produced short films that have been selected to various Academy-certified short film festivals. His filmography includes Overdose (2005), Growing Up in Amman's Suburbia (2006), Sharar (2006), Jerusalem's High Cost of Living (2000), and Uncivil Liberties (1999).
Bitar is the founder and director of the Jordan Short Film Festival (JSFF), established in 2005 with the main purpose of giving voice to Jordanian indie filmmakers. Though small in size, the festival quickly evolved into a regional player through which numerous independent Arab and other filmmakers have made their debut on the international film festival circuit.
He is invited frequently to international forums to speak on independent cinema of the South. In 2007, L' Institut Français du Proche-Orient, a prominent French think tank on the Middle East, named Bitar as one of 27 influential Jordanian figures. Bitar served on the international jury of the academy-certified Tampere International Film Festival.
Hazim Bitar was born in 1964 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Palestinian parents who were exiled by the Israeli invasion and occupation. He migrated to the USA to pursue his education, before he moved to Jordan in 2002. He completed his undergraduate studies in computer and information science at the Millersville University, PA, and his Masters in Organizational Management at the George Washington University, DC. His entry into filmmaking has roots in civil and human rights activism. He produced a number of documentaries in support of United Nations projects with focus on refugees and women issues.
Hazim Bitar had served as a communication and media consultant to a number of human development and civil rights organizations in the U.S. and in the Arab World. His clients include UNICEF, Global Peace, Jordan River Foundation, etc.
Before his filmmaking career, as an IT professional, Bitar consulted for prominent firms such as Texas Instruments, Oracle ,Intelsat, and Tandy Corp. Bitar helped develop strategic plans and led the implementation of enterprise solutions. His client base included Fortune 500 customers such as IBM, Mobil Oil, MCI, AT&T, Bell Atlantic, and HP.
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