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Ammon News - By Gaelle Sundelin/Jordan Times

AMMAN — "I have always regretted not shooting 'Arn-the Knight Templar' in Jordan as we were supposed to," Swedish executive producer Johan Mardell told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

Back then, the location had been changed to Morocco due to time issues, but in 2011, his film "Hamilton- In The Interest of the Nation", based on Jan Guillou's bestsellers, brought him back to Jordan.

On Thursday evening, on the occasion of the Swedish National Day, Marnell will present his action film to a Jordanian audience for the first time at Al Hussein Cultural Centre.

"Shooting everything here was fantastic. Although the film is also set in Eritrea and Somalia, we could film everything here in Jordan," he said upon his third visit to the Kingdom.

The film, directed by Katherine Windfeld, stars popular Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt alongside Jordanian actress Saba Mubarak and is an example of Swedish-Jordanian cooperation, he noted.

"We had many Jordanians on set, and I was impressed by the work of Fuad Khalil and Lara Atalla, who were in-charge of finding locations and cast members and coordinating on the ground," he said in an interview.

"They were very professional and it would have been sad to just bring over a Swedish team, shoot the movie and leave without having shared the experience with Jordan".

Speaking of Jordan's potential to attract foreign filmmakers, Mardell noted that Americans are more inclined to shoot in Jordan than Europeans.

"Jordan should focus on partnering with Europe instead of the US, because Europe is culturally closer and has a political incentive to develop ties with the Middle East, whereas US filmmakers just shoot their movie here and leave."

Referring to the large Arabic-speaking population in Europe and the current social situation there, he also noted that co-produced movies would help fight stereotypes about the Middle East.

"I spread the word that it is safe to shoot here in Jordan and that [Jordanians] are professional to work with."

Besides, the female lead character, who is Palestinian, has a positive role in the movie and helps the James Bond-like hero on his quest, Mardell said.

"It fights this stereotype you find in most American movies where the Arabs always play the 'bad guys', it is a new positive perspective and actually, in this film, the enemy is an American corporate giant."

But beyond stereotypes, the producer pointed to the increased professionalism of Jordanian film crews as a main incentive to attract European productions.

"At the time [of 'Arn- The Knight Templar'], the structure for filmmaking was not yet completely built-up, but it has improved a lot [since then] and there is a great potential for foreign filmmakers because the people are already here in Jordan and they are qualified."

Positive about his experience in Jordan and noting how it helped him overcome some pre-conceived ideas, Mardell is adamant that he will shoot in Jordan again.

"I want to use a story combining Jordan and Sweden, one that Jordanians would enjoy watching too, but so far I only have loose ideas, nothing definitive yet," he concluded before heading off to the Royal Film Commission, where he will be holding a workshop for filmmakers on Thursday.