A New Step for Jordanian Cinema..

Read my article in my Arabic blog: "A new step for Jordanian cinema.. Jordan short film festival in its 3rd edition"

The Link: http://rifqiassaf.maktoobblog.com/?post=466867

Hope to see you all in the festival from 24 - 30 August 2007..

Preparing for a new film, help needed..

In the upcoming days I will be working on an important short film of mine, its preliminary title is: "The notebook on the table No.1", I need volunteers to work with me in some important positions, the positions are:

1. Co-Production Manager
2. Production Assistants
3. Actor: Abu Jawad's Role, Age: 60-65
4. Music Composer

Anyone interested in working in this project please contact me by sending me an Email on: rifqiassaf@gmail.com

Thank you all in advance

The Dream Journey Started..

Though of feeling really bad and frustrated lately because of not being able to start shooting two shorts i was planing to start, one is a comedy about children which was delayed because of end of school, and the other is my "Another Day" short film which is still waiting for shooting, despite of all that me and my friend Salah developed an idea for a feature film we were discussing earlier, and i finished writing a detailed preliminary outline of the script, and two days ago started writing the first draft of what is hopefully going to be my first feature film, this hard journey which i hope will and can only be rewarded by becoming a film on the screen in few years with god's well, has just started..

AC Milan did it !!! Maldini's Friends took the trophy home

I was so young when i started supporting Rossoneri Milan, watched them winning a championship after another, two years ago taking the lead 3-0 against the Reds of Liverpool in the final, then losing with penalty kicks, tonight AC had the chance to pay back, and really made me happy winning the UEFA Champions league. Away from films and poetry, soccer (football) is my beloved hobby, i play whenever i get the chance, wearing the black and red shirt of Milan. Supporting Paolo Maldini for twenty years now, can say nothing but that this player deserve it all, really does..

Jordan Short Film Festival 2007 Open For Film Submissions

The 3rd session of the Jordan Short Film Festival (JSFF'07) is now
accepting film entries.

The JSFF'07 will be held under the patronage of the Jordan Ministry of Culture and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation. The festival is organized by the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC).

WEB: http://JordanFilmFestival.com

FESTIVAL DATES: 24 - 30 August 2007

FILM ENTRY DEADLINE: 25th July 2007

COMPETITIONS & AWARDS:

• International & Arab Short Film Competition: 3000 EUR (appx. 4000 USD) divided between two winners.
• Yaris-AFC Jordan Mobile Movie Competition: 3000 Euro (appx. 4000 USD) divided between 15 winners.
• Other honorary awards: Best Script, Best Actor/Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Student Film.

FESTIVAL JURY:

• Adnan Madanat (Jury Chair), Film Critic & Director of Shoman Cinema Center, Jordan.
• Jukka-Pekka Laakso, Director of Tampere Film Festival, Finland.
• Lars Henrik Gass, Director of Int'l Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany.
• Marta Agosti, Coordinator of Jordan Cultural Affairs, Spanish Agency for International Cooperation.
• Nadira Ardjoun, Board Member of Clermont-Ferrand Int'l Short Film Festival, France.

FILM ENTRY:

Entry form - Short Film Competition:
http://www.JordanFilmFestival.com/filmform.aspx

Entry form - Mobile Movie Competition:
http://www.JordanFilmFestival.com/mobile

Registration fee: no fee.

FESTIVAL TEAM:

Partner: Toyota-Jordan. Sponsors: Goethe Institute, French Cultural
Center, Play FM 99.6, Royal Film Commission, Municipality of Greater
Amman, Abdulhameed Shoman Foundation.

CONTACTS:

Hazim Bitar, Director, Jordan Short Film Festival (JSFF'07),
JSFF2007{at}gmail{dot}com, +962.776.400.434

AMMAN FILMMAKERS COOPERATIVE (AFC)
http://JordanianFilms.com

JSFF'06 ARCHIVES:
http://Festival2006.Alif.com

Source: Jordanian Indie Films

What Happened at Al Isra' University

Lately, and ironically one day before the world's labor day, the management of Al Isra Private University in Jordan made a decision not to renew the contracts of tens of its teaching crews, among them the most are PhD and MA holders, without a clear or acceptable justifications, i myself express my objection on such a step toward good Jordanian High education teachers, who passed all evaluations, and served that university for many years, you can read about this in more details in my Arabic blog here, i think everyone should know about this and say no to such a procedure.

Translation for my poem "Moon on the Sidewalks of the Wretched قمر على أرصفة الحزانى"

Here is a translation of my poem "Moon on the Sidewalks of the Wretched قمر على أرصفة الحزانى" translated by Munir Mezyed by the initiative of "From Ocean to Gulf" forums, the translation is not bad for such a complicated poem in Arabic, hope you enjoy reading it ..

p.s to read the original Arabic poem u can always visit my Arabic Blog and you can find that specific poem Here


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Moon on the Sidewalks of the Wretched
By Rifqi Assaf
Translated By Munir Mezyed


The space constricts me
And night looses breezes from its locks that never sleep.
In summer dreams gulls are the size of the memory of the spars and the sail...
As for the sun is kohl in the eye …and expatriate surging with its gray shadow
On the thresholds.
Perfume that blended with notion, if you know,
Has no pride.
The pavements are cold where the good ones gallivant
Death is pure, preserving vagina, protecting rain from the Narcissus slips
The Closed doors are homelands that have the color of groans of the transients
In the narrow streets
And Amman drinks its exhaustion at the door of an old bar in Al-Wabideh Mount

We were walking,
And Allah loved us…
We were carrying the wall on our shoulders to take refuge from the springs of perfume which hailing us
To execute the supreme virtue…
The poor were passing by under the trees
Bowing their foreheads
And saluting others…


Peace on the books lying on the floor, sick after it had forgotten their titles.
Conjunctivitis eat the eye of the stand’s owner who has not slept since a minaret passed by
Echoing from behind the Lord’s name
Exalting His name

In Raghadan main bus station
So many dead ones died..

The barefooted ones were scurrying over the hot asphalt
And sleeping on the same cold pavement
And wrapping themselves in a newspaper hardly they cared about its name
Or the news about Byzantine that fell because the monks were asking for sex of the angels
Or the news of "Nebuchad- Nezzar "
Or "Cyrus" or "Ahmadinejad" or "Wane Rooney"
Or the sand where the naked women from a different place sleep as the sun is no longer for free


The cafes are
Selling sleep
With the price of the cup of flavored tee
That chills like the chilling blood in the veins
Before they had been drunk by the lad embracing the black-pale bag like his soul
Which is full of metal and human’s limbs collected from gazes’ arrogance
And the Jeans- Buttocks
The sea is not blue
This is another lie
Color is but the reflection of the sky … and the refraction of light ..
And the breaking of the sad hearts at the doors of the hotels that have monopolized the beaches
And the Tears monopolized the salt
Here...
Even the seas die

The poor
Borrow a sea
A window
And a vast tomb
On a dull corner crowded with packed paces

Crowd has its solemnity
As ants have
You can not count the passersby nor can you scrutinize their faces
Nor can you perceive the reason why they appear one whose face keeps repeating
Why they are not well..

Cloud has no friends
Because the short friendship doesn’t last
It disappears in the sad memory of telephones’ book which thrown in worn pockets…
Or we live in the bosoms of those who can not keep a memory in their pockets beside food
And roam the asphalt that embellished with roses, embroidered with tires of a woman’s car who doesn’t truly deserve to walk on earth…
The night was betraying my image in the mirror a
And my voice echoed in the corridors
Deluding the Ghosts curtains into believing that heart is as white as a flock of white pigeons

At the door of the city
The prophets stood in the queue of leaving
And departed

His Birthday..

Today 18 April, passed silently the birthday of my late most beloved human being, my father Adnan Assaf, god bless your soul baba, and hope that i can make you proud of all of what i am trying to do and accomplish, provoked by your encouragement, following the dream you believed i can follow, being faithful to your values and principles, may your soul rest in peace and live a better life now, and hope i can be up to your expectations in my journey in life that you inspired by the short one of yours..

New Photos for me shooting

Here are some new photos for me while shooting my short "An Ammani Spirit" and during the workshop, the photos were taken by friend and teacher assistant Rebbeca Flores ..

Shooting..

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In the snowy day

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Me Concentrating, Hi :)

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The Bad Flu

In the middle of active preparations and working hard i got attacked by a flu, for the third day now am doing nothing, feel depressed, tired and pain in my throat, hopefully i will be recovered soon inshalla with your prayers to work on the new film, and mainly to feel better.

Photos from the making of my short "An Ammani Spirit" During the filmmaking workshop

Here are some photos taken by friend Samer Nimri from the making of my short documentary "An Ammani Spirit" at Hashim restaurant during the filmmaking workshop with the RFC and University of Southern California

Me (with the hat) while shooting and Rebbeca Flores (left)

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My Friend and team partner Bashar Atiyat

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Me Talking to Hashim's owner

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More photos of the workshop will be posted soon nshalla :)

Looking for talented Actors/Actresses

Preparing for the upcoming film projects, i am looking for enthusiastic, talented Actors and Actresses for several roles, the only condition is passion, loving cinema enough to give our films some of their own time and commitment, if u r interested, all what u have to do in the first stage is to send me an email on: rifqiassaf@gmail.com, and i will contact u to tell u what we r going to do later.. Thank u all in advance

A Moroccan Festival selects my film "The Last Patch"

Moroccan "The International Festival of Video Art of Casablanca" in its 14th edition selected my film "The Last patch" directed by Me, Omar Saleh and Hazim Bitar in its programme, tried to find the news in Arabic but all i could find is some news in french, more details will follow soon when i can find something in English or Arabic :)

A Break

Some break before continuing in the upcoming projects and after a very hard and busy two weeks, hopefully soon i will be working on funding for the feature film idea, at the same time i will be working with my group on a short film, the closest idea to be adopted is "Another Day", more details will follow soon..

End of Workshop

Sadly, the ten beautiful days in the documentary filmmaking workshop with the royal film commission and university of southern california was over last night, with a nice dinner party and closed film screening for filmmakers and invited guests, waiting for public screening, my film "An Ammani Spirit" was screened and gladly got good echos among the instructor, supervisors and guests, good friends we made and a very fruitful though under pressure nice experience, hopefully to meet again with every single one of them soon.

Photos will follow soon..

Idea for a feature film

Started in the last two days and despite of the pressure of the workshop working on the idea of my first feature film, the idea is strange (as usual) :) and hopefully new, i finished the first full treatment and presentation of the idea, and am going to start writing the first draft soon, all that was motivated by the visit of Mr. Vincenzo Bugno the representitive of two europian film funding institutions to Amman, we had a public meeting with him and i personaly had a private meeting with him telling him about my project, the meetings were very fruitful, the funding is not what am concerned about in this stage, but getting knowledge of funding requirements and to develope the idea well till it become a full final draft, as soon as the workshop ends i will be working on it, updates will follow inshalla.

Interview with Jordan news agency (petra) in a coverage of the workshop

Here is the link from Alghad Daily Newspaper

http://www.alghad.jo/?news=160867

Really Tired..

With the end of the third day of the documentary filmmaking workshop am having with the Royal Film Commission and University of South California am getting really tired, we r divided into teams of two to cooperate in our projects, tomorrow is the first day of shooting for my team partner Bashar Atiyat, Jordanian Hollywood Actor, he acted in syriana, he is a nice tender guy, we got along easily, am sure we r gona get really more tired tomorrow, and the shooting of my project will be on Saturday, then a hard week editing, hope that we can produce 2 good films in such a short under pressure time..

Alot Like Films, alot like life

I have always believed that we shouldn't come to this life and leave without doing something, and so i always wanted to be as much creative as i can, i have a physical problem since i was born, i always wanted to challenge this problem and be the man i wana be, being so short as a result of that problem i suffered alot in my early teenage years, i started to write, and express my feelings, my late dad's love for cinema always fascinated me, he got us a video recorder at a very early age in my life, and i can still remember how many many many movies he used to watch weekly, he used to tell me stories about his visits to the movie theaters at Palestine when he was so young, and then in Amman later, i loved that magical world of films because of him, and that started my passion.

Years later i failed the secondary certificate (Tawjihi) Twice, Those two years were so hard to me, but the dream grew up, my dad got me a video camera though he wasn't happy about my failure, and at the age of 17 i started to make my home films, finally my family got to realise that i have to convert to literary stream which my mom was against to pass, and i did, and the dream came back to life.

I wanted to study filmmaking, everyone said i shouldent, except him, he encouraged me, stood by my side, and did his best to put me on the filmmaking track, couldnt enter Yarmouk University, and we started considering other options, Egypt was one of the closest, and Yarmouk itself was the other, and he died, yes.. he died, leaving me alone, at one night of 1998 he went to sleep with some little pain in his shoulder, and he didnt wake up, he was only 49..

I put my dream aside, choosing to stay with my family as the elder brother, my sisters were 11 and 9 and my brother was only 3 and a half years old, i was 20, i decided to study anything, leaving my dream for destiny, i went to Applied Science Uneversity (Al3oloom Altatbeeqeyyeh) to study English Translation, i kept writing poetry in a four good years, and the dream of cinema vanished.

Graduated in 2003, starting to discover Internet publishing features earlier, i started publishing my poems in different websites, got good feedbacks so i started sending web magazines and they published, made lot of friends, and met the lady who helped me out the most, i also started sending Alrai daily newspaper cultural section and published there many times, meanwhile i used to work with my uncle in photography, finding the second branch of Jubeiha studio together with Baker Dahamsheh the owner of the main Branch.

and one day.. the dream came true, it was something alot like films, my friend "Salah" read somthing about Amman Filmmakers Cooperative and its founder Hazim Bitar, The cooperative helps young dreamers to achieve their first short film, through filmmaking workshops, took me some time to find Hazim, i attended some workshops, made my first short "The Last Patch" while working in a famous advertising agency "Team Young & Rubicam" in order to make living, then made another two shorts "Amman in Red" and "Thursday", left my job in late 2006, and here i am: a Filmmaker..

Dedicated to my Late beloved father "Adnan Assaf"

It Is all about filmmaking

Hello

My name is Rifqi Assaf, i am a jordanian poet and filmmaker, and this is my English blog, You can find my Arabic Blog Here, hope u all enjoy reading about me and what i do..

Thank You Welcome