The Embassy of Ireland in Jordan will launch the inaugural Irish Film Festival in Jordan, Irish Film Days, in cooperation with the Royal Film Commission, the Irish Film Institute and Culture Ireland.

Over three nights, a selection of Irish films will be screened. In her remarks on the opening night, the Ambassador of Ireland to Jordan, Marianne Bolger, expressed her thanks to the Royal Film Commission in Jordan, the Irish Film Institute and Culture Ireland, in facilitating the organization of this film festival. Ambassador Bolger remarked that “this festival offers us the opportunity to showcase Irish film in Jordan, and to act as an important mechanism for sharing important messages about our culture and values, including on issues around youth empowerment, gender equality and disability”.

A short-film, funded by the Embassy of Ireland in collaboration with Generations for Peace and Cinemagic, ‘Abia’ will be screened on 10 and 11 October and tells the story of a young woman experiencing gender-based violence. A team of young Jordanian and Syrian youth came together, with the support of Generations for Peace and Northern Ireland based organization Cinemagic, to learn film-making skills which resulted in the creation and production of this impressive short film. With stunning wide-sweeping views of Amman throughout, this film shares the global message that violence against women is never acceptable. It highlights issues of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Embassy of Ireland looks forward to continuing similar projects in Jordan.

The opening night features a documentary film entitled ‘Breaking Out’, directed by Michael McCormack. This film tells the story of late Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O’Farrell. Although diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at a young age, Fergus did not define himself by his condition or allow it to limit his musical pursuits. This film shares an important and uplifting message around the valuable contribution to societies that persons with disability make.

The second film to be screened is an Irish-language psychological thriller, called ‘Doineann’ (storm). After moving to a remote island off the north-west coast of Ireland in search of peace and quiet, one day Tomás finds that his wife and baby have gone missing. A search party is organized, and a grisly discovery is made.
As a storm approaches, a race against time is essential in order to find those missing.

On the final night, a family friendly film ‘Róise and Frank’ is being screened. This Irish-language film features the recently widowed Róise, who believes that a stray dog embodies the spirit of her late husband Frank. This is a warm-hearted, witty and uplifting tale of finding hope and consolation amidst grief and loss.