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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordanian feature film “Theeb” by by director Naji Abu Nowar has been selected to be screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Canada next month.

The 100-minute narrative feature will be screened within the “Discovery” section, which showcases films by “directors to watch” and presents the “future of international cinema”, according to TIFF’s official website.

Written by Abu Nowar and Bassel Ghandour, “Theeb” is a bedouin story of “brotherhood and betrayal, set in Wadi Rum [in] 1916”, according to the film’s Facebook page.

“Theeb [Wolf] lives with his bedouin tribe in a forgotten corner of the Ottoman Empire. Having recently lost his father, it falls to Theeb’s brother, Hussein, to raise him.”

The siblings’ lives “are interrupted with the arrival of a British army officer and his guide on a mysterious mission”, with Theeb finding himself forced to make choices that teach him about adulthood and survival.

Produced by Ghandour and Rupert Lloyd, the film stars Jacir Eid, Hassan Mutlag, Hussein Salameh, Jack Fox and Marji Audeh.

“Theeb” was shot entirely on location “against the ravishing landscape of Wadi Rum and Wadi Araba, and cast with non-professional actors from one of the last of Jordan’s nomadic bedouin tribes to settle down”, according to the film’s page on TIFF’s website.

“Naji Abu Nowar’s understated gem is a remarkable accomplishment for a small crew working on a shoestring budget,” the festival’s organisers said.

“Radiating passion from every frame, ‘Theeb’ is a skilful, genre-crossing blend of a coming-of-age drama and a western.”

This year’s TIFF, which will be held between September 4 and 14, features 372 films from 72 countries, boasting “the largest number of world premieres in festival history”, according to its website.

“Theeb”, Abu Nowar’s debut feature, is also competing in the 71st Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti international competition alongside Jordanian short “In Overtime” by director Rami Yasin.

The Venice festival opened on Wednesday and continues through September 6.

*Jordan Times