captain abu raed 2008 region free dvd 5 arabic bcbc

Captain Abu Raed is a 2007 Jordanian Film directed and written by Amin Matalqa. It is the first feature film produced in Jordan in more than 50 years. The Royal Film Commission of Jordan endorsed Captain Abu Raed to be submitted to the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, the first ever submitted by Jordan. The film won awards at numerous film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, and the Dubai International Film Festival. It was screened at the Jerusalem International Film Festival in 2008.

(Contains movie and optional English, French, Spanish subtitles. No menus or extras. Regular DVD quality (Not BD, 1080p etc...). Seeding always appreciated).



Cast:

Nadim Sawalha – Abu Raed

Rana Sultan – Nour

Hussein Al-Sous – Murad

Udey Al-Qiddissi – Tareq

Ghandi Saber – Abu Murad

Dina Ra'ad-Yaghnam – Um Murad



Awards:

Won:

2007 Dubai International Film Festival

Muhr Award – Best Actor: Nadim Sawalha



2008 Durban International Film Festival

Best First Feature Film



2008 Heartland Film Festival

Crystal Heart Award – Feature Film

Grand Prize for Dramatic Feature



2008 Newport Beach Film Festival

Jury Award – Best Actor – Nadim Sawalha

Jury Award – Best Actress – Rana Sultan



2008 Seattle International Film Festival

Best Director Golden Space Needle Award – Amin Matalqa



2008 Sundance Film Festival

Audience Award – World Cinema – Dramatic



Nominated:

2008 Sundance Film Festival

Grand Jury Prize – World Cinema – Dramatic



Captain Abu Raed movie review

Friday, August 21, 2009



“Captain Abu Raed” is a film of many firsts. It was Jordan’s first official submission for a best foreign film Oscar — ever. Its producers say it’s the first independent film to emerge from the Middle Eastern country in five decades. The film made its writer and director, Amin Matalqa, the first American Film Institute Conservatory student to finish a feature film before graduation.



“Captain Abu Raed,” though, is more than just a piece of film history. The movie, which won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival last year, is an intriguing glimpse at a little-known world and a moving testament to the potential that exists there as much as anywhere else — although even its inhabitants have trouble believing it.



Nadim Sawalha (“Syriana”) is the title character, although he’s not really a pilot. He’s mistaken for one by the neighborhood children when he returns one day wearing a cap he found in the trash at work — he’s a janitor in Amman’s airport. He tries to come clean, but realizes these poverty-stricken children might need dreams more than they need the truth. He captivates them with tales of his travels, encouraging them to reach for the stars.



Two boys especially need Raed’s help. Tareq (Udey Al-Qiddissi) is a smart boy, but his father pulls him out of school to sell wafers on the street. Murad (Hussein Al-Sous) is the group’s sole skeptic; his abusive father has turned him into a young cynic who declares, “People like us don’t become pilots.”



They’re not the only ones struggling in society. Nour (Jordan television presenter Rana Sultan) is a real pilot. Beautiful and independent, she’s a modern woman with an old-fashioned father who would rather see her barefoot and pregnant than pursuing a career high up in the skies.



This is a first film, but a well-executed one. Jordan, sometimes used as a stand-in for Iraq, finally gets the chance to show itself off. Mr. Sawalha is a genial guide through the country and its battles with modernity, but he’s matched by those who represent Jordan’s future. The filmmakers found the neighborhood children in refugee camps, which might be why their plights seem so real and moving.



The director was born in Jordan, moving to the U.S. at age 13, but visiting his homeland every year. With charm and grace, in “Captain Abu Raed” he gives us a moving picture of the country.