A Massive Turnout for the Documentary 17 Screening at the Franco Arab Film Festival in Jordan

Yesterday, Monday, 17 witnessed a massive turnout of audience, media and public figures during its screening within the Franco Arab Film Festival at the Royal Film Commission - Jordan (RFC). The screening was attended by Laurent Rivoire, Mayor of Noisy-le-Sec in Paris, France and a delegate of sports development, its director Widad Shafakoj, and producer Muna Fityani, along with a number of the football players who participated in the film.

 

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.

 

17 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.

 

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 1^st 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.