Concrete Land
Spring Grants 2021 - Production Stage
Asmahan Bkerat / Feature Documentary / Jordan, Qatar / 2023 / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Documentary
Synopsis
Al-Najar is a Bedouin family of three generations living in makeshift tents in one of Amman’s suburbs on land they don’t own. They have lived as Bedouins with their different animals on that land for the past 21 years. In recent years, the area transformed into a high-class neighbourhood. Their quiet Bedouin life is turned upside down when construction starts to creep up on them. Their new neighbours are focused on kicking them out of the area in order to “clean up” the neighbourhood. When one neighbour files a complaint against the family with the local government, the threat becomes a reality, and the family is forced to make a choice. To continue to be Bedouins and find a new land to occupy; or abandon their lifestyle and move to the city. The family is in a dire situation, they have conflicting inner desires, and as the tension between them and their new neighbour rises—Awad realizes the only way to resolve this tension is to relocate their tents.
Credits
- Director
- Asmahan Bkerat
- Producer
- Sahar Yousefi
About the Director
Asmahan Bkerat is a Palestinian-Jordanian documentary filmmaker based in Amman. Her love for cinema has led her to work in various roles on films of different scales, before setting on the path of documentary film. Bkerat has worked on international promos for the UEFA, as well as the upcoming German feature documentary 'Waterproof' (2019). She has also worked on Hollywood blockbusters such as Disney’s 'Aladdin' (2019) and Sky One’s 'Strike Back'. Bkerat’s first short documentary 'Badrya' won the Jury Prize for Best MiniDoc at the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival. She is currently working on her first feature-length documentary 'Concrete Land', which received the IDFA Bertha Fund and is the first Jordanian film to be a finalist for the Whickers Awards. She also has two short documentaries in post. She is an alumnus of the IDFA Academy, The Scottish Documentary Institute, The American Film Showcase, and the RFC.