How Does the Film ‘Amira’ Disrespect Palestinians?

Several films and series have been shot to depict their reality, convey the Palestinian cause, and reveal the crimes of the Israeli Occupation, however the last of them did the total opposite of that, according to the Hollywood Reporter, where “Amira,” the sperm-smuggling drama film, sparked controversy especially among Palestinians leading to its banning.

The Hollywood Reporter said On Thursday, 9 December, 2021, that Palestinians expressed outrage over the film revolving around a 17-year-old Palestinian girl “who was conceived with the smuggled sperm of her father, a security prisoner held by Israel.”

 

Suspending the Screening

Jordan has withdrawn the Oscar nominee Amira from the 2022 international feature film race after a backlash over the subject represented in the movie about “children conceived with sperm smuggled from Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails,” as reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

Directed by Mohamed Diab, Amira the film, premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was selected by Jordan’s Royal Film Commission in order to represent the country in next year’s Oscar race, according to the same source.

However, the official submitting organization to the Academy Awards decided to withdraw the movie in addition to banning it from screens by Jordan, after criticism that the film was disrespectful to Palestinian prisoners.

The film, shot in Jordan, is co-produced by Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinians.

In fact, Amira sparked controversy on social media and among families of Palestinian prisoners and organizations.

A particular flashpoint in Amira was the scene of a Palestinian girl finding out that she was in fact conceived by sperm from an Israeli prison guard, not the man she loved, the Hollywood Reporter said.

“We do believe in the artistic value of the film and that its message doesn’t harm in any way the Palestinian cause nor that of the prisoners; on the contrary, it highlights their plight, their resilience as well as their willingness to live a decent life in spite of the occupation,” the Royal Film Commission said in a statement Thursday withdrawing the film from Oscar consideration.

“However, in light of the recent controversy the film has triggered and the perception by some that it is detrimental to the Palestinian cause and out of respect to the feelings of the prisoners and their families, the Royal Film Commission has taken the decision to not to have Amira representing Jordan in the Oscars 2022,” it added.

 

Repercussions

The Palestinian Authority in addition to many Palestinian groups, including those representing security prisoners in Israeli jails, strongly condemned the drama film as an “insult to the dignity” of the prisoners.

In his interview to Al-Estiklal, Palestinian Journalist Mohammed al-Zaanin said that “the truth is that the film represents a clear and direct insult to the cause of the thousand Palestinian prisoners who have suffered a lot in the prisons of the Occupation and their families as well, the film questioned the lineage of the children of prisoners!

The Journalist continued to say “we are talking about sperm smuggled through lawyers or the families of prisoners so that they can have children despite their presence behind bars because they are spending many years there, thus, smuggling was a method so that they were not deprived of children.”

Al-Zaanin said also that “the film questions the lineage of these children which reflects the lack of respect for the prisoners’ rights and their suffering, the family film said it is fictional, however, it is inconceivable that we achieve artistic gains at the expense of the dignity of prisoners.

Mohammed concluded by saying that “the prisoners' cause did not have the support of the Arab world so when we talk about a film, it should at least defend their rights, their suffering, and their demand for their freedom.”

He added to say:” the movie was completely antithetical and disappointing, accordingly, there are many agendas that are at the fore of the international community and human rights organizations, but the Palestinian cause should topple this list.”

The PA Culture Ministry and a number of Palestinian groups defending the rights of the security prisoners said on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, that Amira is “a clear infringement and insult to the dignity of the prisoners, their heroism and their great history of struggling.”

In another statement, PA Culture Minister Atef Abu Saif that “the film clearly harms an important issue for our people, strikes our national and struggle narrative and unequivocally offends the history and struggles of the Palestinian prisoners.”

Abu Saif pointed out that the PA and groups representing the prisoners and their families recently held a meeting to discuss the steps that need to be taken “to address the negative repercussions of the film.”

The three groups that represent prisoners' affairs claimed that the film was “consistent” with the Israeli narrative.

These groups consider that sperm-smuggling from Israeli jails has been the “most prominent achievement through which prisoners were able to break the prison wall and create hope.”

 

Apology

After controversy and criticism, Jordan has withdrawn the film from screens, despite the film group's conviction that Amira depicted the Palestinians’ strength and resistance contrary to all what has been said.

“The film addresses the suffering and the heroines of prisoners and their families, and shows the mettle of the Palestinian character that always finds a way to resist and continue and tries to dive deep into the importance of children freedom for Palestinians,” they write, saying that what distorted the film is discussing the fictional plot outside of this context as “it draws an indescribable reverse image of the film.”

The film family said that it really understands the anger as many people saw that Amira was an abuse to the prisoners and their families, “and it is a national anger that we understand, but we hoped that the film would be watched before being judged as a copy or a pass.”

The film makers said that Palestinian prisoners and their feelings are a priority for them, and they claimed that any movie screening will be suspended.

However, Media Director of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Radhi Karama, insisted that “Amira was intended to discredit the Palestinian struggle.”

Through an interview with Al-Estiklal, he said that “the course of most Palestinian issues of struggle and appreciation was manipulated with the aim of serving the occupation and discrediting the captive and the Palestinian struggling families.

Karama claims that “the film promotes the story of the occupation and its dirty imagination, distorting the image of the Palestinian fighter.”

“We are sure that this film was not taken out in vain for the sake of showing it as a film as much as it is a scheme supported by Zionism and those who participated in Amira were involved with the occupation intelligence,” he added.