For those of us who believe in the power of cinema as a social change maker, Al Rasheed's film — a winner in the Critics' Week in Cannes where it world premiered and the Jordanian submission to the Best International Feature Oscar race — is an important piece of the 7th art.
In Amjad Al Rasheed's 2023 title Inshallah a Boy a thirty-something woman, wife and mother finds herself suddenly a widow. Grief stricken and trying to survive for the sake of her young daughter, Nawal (played by the phenomenal Mouna Hawa) also discovers that she has to fight for her part of the inheritance in order to save her daughter and home in a society where having a son would be a game changer.
During this past Ramadan season, one of the series in Egypt, Under Guardianship, tackled the outdated inheritance laws in that country and was featured in The Guardian newspaper as a change maker. It would not be surprising if Inshallah a Boy managed the same feat in Jordan, where the story takes place.
The film has made history, since this interview below took place in Cannes, as the 7th title of the 7th art to be Jordan’s submission to the Oscars race.
Inshallah a Boy was on everyone's radar coming into Cannes, as the film had participated and won top prizes while in several workshops around the MENA region (including Cairo and Marrakesh) but also at Venice Final Cut. It is produced by Rula Nasser (who co-wrote the script along with Al Rasheed and Delphile Agut) and Aseel Abu Ayyash from The Imaginarium Films (Jordan), joined by Yousef Abed Alnabi from Bayt Al Shawareb (also in Jordan), and Raphaël Alexandre and Nicolas Leprêtre from Georges Films (France).
While in Cannes, the film won the Critics' Week GAN Foundation Award for Distribution, which will help Pyramide Films, their international sales agents to distribute this gem -- particularly in Europe.
I caught up with Al Rasheed on the Croisette and for cinema history buffs, this was the first Jordanian film ever to screen in the Festival de Cannes.
What was the genesis of the idea for you?
Amjad Al Rasheed: Usually I get a story idea from a question. I like to ask questions about life -- "what if?" I asked this question in a situation involving a close relative, who was almost in the same situation as my main character. She was a woman who dedicated her life for the service of her family. She had three daughters with her husband and when she bought her house with her own money, her husband insisted that she transfer the house deed into his name. When he passed away, the men of her family came and told her they had a share in her house, according to the law. But they told her "we will allow you to live in the house." Allowing her to live in her own house raised many questions in my own mind. And I thought, what if they don't? And what if she says no? And is it possible that we are living in a modern world that is ruled by laws created one thousand and four hundred years ago?
I started to do research and met some actual cases around Jordan and I always heard, each time I told this idea of a story, someone say, "oh this is my sister's story, this is my friend's story." It's all over.
Jordanian filmmaker Amjad Al Rasheed
Is it your intention to help change this outdated law system which you feature in the story?
Al Rasheed: I don't believe art should have a message to be honest. Especially cinema, which is there to tell a story. I'm telling a human story, Nawal's story, this strong female character. What I wanted was to raise questions, moral questions which are even if a man has the option to benefit from this law, would he do it? He has the option to say no. But again it's more questions that I'm trying to raise in this film and to open a conversation.
So you don't have an agenda?
Al Rasheed: My only agenda is my love of cinema and a love of storytelling. And I hope that the film continues after people leave the theater, they begin a conversation that helps people to think. I believe we are in a very critical moment in the Arab world, and around the world in general. We need to think more and rethink what has been normalized since long ago. We need to reassess these things and we could have a better society as a result.
You collaborated with two women on the script, why did you bring them into the project?
Al Rasheed: Rula Nasser is also my producer, and along with Delphine Agut we wrote the script. When I started writing the script, I was going through more of a dark comedic tone because of the absurdity of the situation, I wanted to tackle it with a dark comedy tone. Then I collaborated with Rula because I didn't feel that working in telling the story I wanted to tell and Rula had ideas on how to make the script more realistic, to go to a social realism tone instead.
"I don't believe that a story has a gender, or a sexuality." -- Amjad Al Rasheed
I liked it and that was what I wanted from the beginning and Rula is also a friend since 2005. They, along with Delphine, both added this sense of feminism to it -- for example Rula had a huge input on the mother-daughter relationship because she herself is a mother! As much as I could try to discover this role, Rula brought these small details here and there which enriched the situation. And helped me to portray the situation in a more authentic, more sincere way.
These days, you must also be careful as a man telling a woman's story...
Al Rasheed: To be honest, I never thought about that. I'm a man who grew up in a family surrounded by women. Since I was a kid I listened to the stories of my aunts, my nieces, my cousins and these stories stayed in my mind. Most of them are not happy stories and they always struggled with male figures in their lives. I have this in me, I don't feel that my story is a feminist film. I don't believe that a story has a gender, or a sexuality. We need to start looking at stories differently. This is a human story and I'm human. And women are human.
I see Iranian influences in the tones of the film. What are your influences when making cinema?
Al Rasheed: I love cinema with different genres, different tones and different voices. Definitely one of them is the Iranian cinema. The atmosphere, the wardrobe, the production design are similar, because the two countries are so close geographically. Holy Spider, the Iranian film, was shot in Jordan.
What films did you watch while growing up?
Al Rasheed: Starting with Egyptian movies, black and white movies which I'm so in love with, but also I was exposed to other foreign films. Cries and Whispers, Songs from the Second Floor, The Match Factory Girl, Singing in the Rain, different different stuff.
"My only agenda is my love of cinema and a love of storytelling." -- Amjad Al Rasheed
How did you cast the film?
Al Rasheed: It took me a long time to cast but thankfully the producers allowed me that time. I was not only looking for talent and range of emotion, because this is very available in Jordan. I was also looking for personalities and that's where I took my time with the actors and discovered them as people. It was very important to me to understand their point of view in life. This helped me in getting the best performances from them.
What did it feel like to premiere the film in Cannes?
Al Rasheed: It's amazing. It's an amazing feeling, especially since it's the first Jordanian film in Cannes. To present the film here is a huge step for me. I always felt that if I wanted to tell a story, no one would listen to me. And this is why I want to tell stories through cinema and now, sharing it in Cannes -- it's the biggest festival in world. And so I'm telling this story to a huge audience and that is overwhelming for me. A dream come true.
And finally, how do you feel about the label "Arab cinema"?
Al Rasheed: I was thinking about it yesterday and I felt a nice feeling, that here we are presenting Arab cinema. I felt good about it -- definitely each country has its own stories and its own voices and its own personalities. But it does feel good to present Arab cinema in Cannes -- individually yet as a group.
All photos courtesy of the filmmakers, used with permission.