Employees of the Month

They only found out about it six months later, and when they were eventually told their short film had won a Special Merit award at the 62nd Festival Internazionale Del Cinema Di Salerno, they didn’t even realise they’d entered. But Jordanian directors Omar Saleh and first-timer Mohammed Abu Jarad, both part of the Amman Filmmakers Cooperative, were nonetheless ecstatic that their comic short What A Job had received such recognition.

“This was really little more than a weekend project,” says Omar Saleh with a shrug. “We wrote it, shot it, edited it and kind of forgot about it! And as Hazim Bitar at the AFC decides which of the Cooperative’s films to send to the festivals, we simply weren’t aware we were even in contention for these awards! We never guessed it would get this reaction.” And that reaction also included becoming the first Jordanian film to be screened at the prestigious Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia, which the pair both attended.

What a Job is a simple story – actually, more of an extended gag – that centres around a flyer on a Downtown Amman wall for a well-paid opening. It attracts numerous applicants who all dream of the car they’ll buy and the places they’ll take their girlfriends with their new wasta-free job. When the duties are revealed, though, they all run a mile. “Me and Hazim at the AFC came up with the general outline,” says Omar, “but when we met Mohammed we developed it a little. We played with several twists at the end to make sure the message would be understood by all.”

“It was my first real film,” says Mohammad, still coming to terms with an award for his maiden effort. “I met Hazim after I’d made a homemade blockbuster with my friends, which I had edited myself. He liked it, we met and once I’d completed the AFC bootcamp, I was offered the opportunity to co-direct this short.”

Mohammad even acted in the short and filled the other roles with his friends, highlighting the dearth of professionals that continues to face every filmmaker in Jordan. In fact, the whole seven-minute short took just a day and a half to shoot and a further three days in the edit suite with Hazim Bitar. “Ever since I was a kid I have been obsessed with movies,” says Mohammad, whose day job is in an Amman bank. “But I can’t say I ever thought about making films; in Jordan that’s just not something you think is possible. But then this happens.”

Omar Saleh, an engineer by day, has more work under his belt. He has completed four shorts and has a full feature-length film in development right now. “I don’t know why this one worked so well,” he confesses. “I think it touched people with a universal message, but did it with humour.”

“This film has been a source of constant surprises for us but nothing close to this,” said Cooperative founder Hazim Bitar. “It was one of those films made with a very local message yet it seems to have resonated with other audiences as well.”


Our Worst jobs ever
Spending 60 hours a week in the office to put together the best magazine in the  region (where irrelevantly no one bothers to read anything anyway) may be a demanding job, but it's a walk in the cake compared to some of the other jobs we had.

Musa al-Shuqairi, deputy editor
Security guard at a CD store in a flea market
"I don't pay you to sit down," yelled the 80-year old shop owner if he ever saw you taking a "sitting" break.

Maysa Sultan, designer
Substitute teacher
“Forget the fact that I generally hate kids, but when you have a retarded (literarily)  student in your class, that's a whole new different level.”

Mirza Hatk. automotive editor
Customer service rep for a telecom company
“'I can't do anything with my phone. Every time I press menu I get the number 6.' It turned out that for one Jordanian citizen, the MNO on the number 6 was the 'menu'. I nearly had a break down after that call...”

Eddie Taylor, publishing director
Processed chicken stripper
“Taking off your clothes is less traumatising than spending a whole day fondling deep-fried chickens. In Yorkshire.”

Hedaia Hammad, photo editor
Wedding photographer
“Besides the endless demands of the groom's mother to be her personal photographer, one of them insisted to introduce me to her other son. Don't even ask...”