Screening of Director Widad Shafakoj Jordanian Documentary Film 17 at Cinematheque de Tanger

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Within Its Continued Tour in the Arab World

Screening of Director Widad Shafakoj Jordanian Documentary Film 17 at Cinematheque de Tanger


Continuing its successful tour in the Arab world, Jordanian documentary film 17 by director Widad Shafakoj screens at Cinémathèque de Tanger for four weeks starting July 4, giving the audience the chance to watch the film three times/day. The screening come as part of a programme about the football world.

Witnessing a huge audience demand on its commercial release at Prime Cinema, Baraka Mall in Jordan, 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 filmis 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.

The film screened at several prestigious film festivals around the world before being released in its homeland, Jordan, 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, and the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).

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.