Documentary Film 17 to Participate in Oran International Arabic Film Festival in Algeria

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Following its Commercial Success in Jordan

Documentary Film 17 to Participate in Oran International Arabic Film Festival in Algeria


Jordanian documentary film 17 by director Widad Shafakoj is competing in the 11th Oran International Arabic Film Festival, which will be held from 25 to 31 July, only days following the film's commercial success after its release at Prime Cinema, Baraka Mall in Jordan.

The festival will feature 30 films, including 10 feature films, 10 short films and 10 documentaries competing for its awards. The festival will also offer workshops for young people interested in cinema on different topics, such as the visual effects, short filmmaking. Furthermore, the festival will honor the late great Egyptian actress Shadia and the late Algerian director Farouk Beloufa.

The film screened at several prestigious film festivals around the world, including the Carthage Film Festival (JCC) in Tunisia, the 1st El Gouna Film Festival, Muscat International Film Festival, ALFILM - Arab Film Festival Berlin, Arab Women Film Festival in Sweden, Arab Film Festival in California, USA, Arabisches Film Festival Tübingen in Germany, the Franco Arab Film Festival in Jordan and the Film Market at Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).

17 follows the Jordanian under-17 women's football team as they prepare for the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup Jordan 2016. Coming from different backgrounds, each of the girls has faced a different set of challenges as a national team player. But now they come together to face their biggest challenge yet.

The film is a social exploration into the lives of young women who are passionate about a sport they have been told was only for men. Will Anoud make it in the final squad? Will Leen be ready to play in this world-class event with so little time to prepare? Will the odds finally start working for the team? 17 is directed by Widad Shafakoj, produced by Muna Fityani and distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions.

Widad Shafakoj is a Jordanian documentary film director who utilizes films as a means of expressing her opinions on the society in which she lives. She directed ID:000, an award-winning short film about the abuse that is inflicted on Jordanian orphans. The film led to a change in Jordanian orphan-related regulations.

In 2013, Shafakoj directed The Last Passenger, another short film that exposed the story of Syrian refugees who illegally escaped from Al Zaatari Camp to Jordanian governorates. A year later, Widad was able to present an issue that is close to her heart in her debut feature film If You Meant to Kill Me, which follows women who are imprisoned for their protection after being threatened to get killed for honor.

In 2017, Widad worked with HRH Prince Ali bin Hussein on her film 17, which follows the Jordanian under-17 women's football team as they prepare for the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup Jordan 2016.