It was filmed in the wadi rum of jordan, covering the same geography and topography that david leans masterpiece captured on film. An inversion of lawrence of arabia a film told from the perspective of arab. While war rages in the ottoman empire, hussein raises his younger brother theeb wolf in a traditional bedouin community that is isolated by the vast. Nowar impressively treats both themes at the same time without overtly drawing parallels and further amplifies what are smallscale relationships and actions by letting the story play.
It takes place in the wadi rum region of jordantheres this incredible color palette, nudes to desert sage. Jan 08, 2018 theeb is a 2014 arabiclanguage dramathriller from jordanian director naji abu nowar, who describes his film as a bedouin western. Theeb jacir eid, a real find, which means wolf in arabic, is the third and youngest son of a recently deceased sheik, and hes being raised by his adult brother, hussein hussein salameh. Out of the united arab emirates and filmed in jordan comes theeb, a film nominated for best foreign language feature at the 2016 academy awards. The wideopen spaces of jordan, where theeb was filmed. The first time theeb was screened at the venice film festival, it was the first time the actors had ever walked into a cinema, says kalaji. Rent theeb 2015 starring jacir eid and hassan mutlag on dvd and bluray. I had heard good murmurs from friends, but didnt actually see it until 20. Although mainly filmed in petra it was also used for some scenes of indiana jones and the last crusade. Everything you need to know before you watch the movie theeb. The contrast and diversity that the location of wadi rum offers is interesting and exceptional. Put yourself in the mood with a selection of 17 films about jordan, or at least filmed in jordanget in the mood.
In 1916, theeb lives with his bedouin tribe in a remote part of the ottoman empire. Theeb is a 2014 arabiclanguage dramathriller from jordanian director naji abu nowar, who describes his film as a bedouin western. Theeb is fascinated by the englishman, and especially by a wooden box hes jealously guarding. Theeb film could make academy awards history for jordan. Jacir eid, who plays the title role of theeb, stares out into the vastness of the wadi rum desert, his home and the films shooting location. Theeb was filmed entirely in wadi rum, in southern jordan. Theeb is a departure and it is hard to compare it to anything in world cinema. His debut feature, theeb, which won him the orizzonti award for best director in venice last year, announces him as a major new talent. Theeb shortlisted for best foreign language film oscar. Theeb is a bedouin parable set against the backdrop of lawrence of arabia. Theebs tribal encampment was shot in wadi araba, next to the israeli military border zone, the pilgrims trail was shot in wadi rum, and the ottoman fortress was shot in daba a about 70 km south of amman. Jacir eid alhwietat, hussein salameh alsweilhiyeen year.
Like those films, theeb is concerned with elemental themes of survival and revenge, embodied by men as hard and unforgiving as the landscape that engenders them. It is directed by naji abu nowar as well, who is a british born jordanian, and produced by rupert lloyd. The film received academy award nomination for best foreign language film. Jordanian filmmaker naji abu nowar lived in the desert with the countrys bedouin tribesmen for months, learning their ways of life and sense. Winner of bafta award for best british debut naji abu nowar and rupert lloyd. The detroit film theatre is generously supported by buddys pizza. It played in the first feature competition section of the 58th bfi london film festival. The films acute sense of this unforgiving environment is underscored by a soundtrack in which gunfire and voices ricochet eerily through the spiky canyons and arid mountain passes. The detroit film theatre is supported by your tri county millage investment. Nowar and cowriter bassel ghandour lived for a year in wadi rum in order to get a feel for bedouin culture and legends, and the result is this wwiera film about a young boys highly unusual coming of age. Filmed in wadi rum and wadi araba and set during ottoman rule during wwi.
Touring through wadi rum in bedouin 4x4 is a wonderful experience. Director naji abu nowar describes how theeb traveled an arduous journey from its start to a foreignlanguage film oscar nomination, a first for. Jacir eid theeb is from the same tribe as awda abu tayeh, a leader and hero of the arab revolt against the ottoman empire. Aug, 2015 theeb is set in 1916, and was filmed in jordans wadi rum valley, where many of the bedouin tribespeople have settled.
Now, both the nerdy outer space alien storyline and the awesome filmmaking in a cool country high on my list of personal faves. Theeb is a 2014 internationally coproduced period drama thriller film written and directed by naji abu nowar. Theeb is a drama thriller film directed by jordanian film director, naji abu nowar. Half a century before theeb, scenes from david leans oscarwinning epic lawrence of arabia were filmed in wadi rum, close to where jacir and his family live. First world war story theeb filmed entirely on location in jordan. In the oscarnominated jordanian film theeb, the eponymous character, a young boy still untutored in the ways of the desert, is stranded in a particularly hostile corner of the ottoman empire.
Theebs desert setting brings to mind the stark beauty of monument valley, where john ford shot many of the films that defined the western genre during its classical phase. The movie was actually filmed at a house in moneta, virginia, on smith mountain lake. The story follows a bedouin boy whose brother is commissioned by a british officer. Sep 26, 2019 as with many movies on this list, i was late to the game on prometheus. Breathe is a 2017 biographical drama film directed by andy serkis in his directorial debut, from a screenplay by william nicholson.
Naji reverted and suggested this be a feature film, and from there the story begins. It was the night of oscar nominations, jordanians were glued to the screens watching the live stream on youtube, awaiting the announcement of theeb being shortlisted for best foreign film. Set during the first world war, naji abu nowars drama about the arrival of a blueeyed englishman in a desert. It stars andrew garfield, claire foy, hugh bonneville, tom hollander, ed speleers and deancharles chapman, and tells the story of robin cavendish, who became paralyzed from the neck down by polio at age 28. I played in a band called gunthers bus at t marts in the late 60s and early 70s. The bridge in port republic, nj was used for the newsreel account showing eddies car being pulled from the water. Visiting the beach film set in thailand borders of adventure. Move over theeb these 9 arab films got oscar nominations.
Dec 21, 2015 the bedouin western movie realised by director and cowriter naji abu nowar was selected out of 80 contenders from around the world. Filmed in a similar locale to lawrence of arabia lean, 1962, theeb is set in a time at which the 400 year long reign of the ottoman empire came to an end, something that is seen as fundamental in forming the middle east as we know it today. Theeb is a 2014 jordanian arabiclanguage film cowritten by naji abu nowar and bassel ghandour. The theeb director describes the films arduous journey to a foreign. It is the only film from the middle east included in the shortlist. Certain american westerns might approach its austerity in their presentation of a harsh and deadly world, but hollywood sentimentality always deprives even the best of that genre of what theeb has in. He accepts a job at a local antique mall where hes introduced to the quirky world in which his. Led by an outstanding performance from jacir eid alhwietat in the title role, theeb is a startlingly assured first effort from directorcowriter naji abu nowar.
The 1991 comedy what about bob starring richard dreyfuss as a psychiatrist whose vacation is interrupted by a patient named bob bill murray was pretty funny but what most of us probably remember is his vacation house on lake winnipesaukee in new hampshire, right. The junkyard scene was filmed in the huge junkyard in atco, nj. The director and producer spent a year living with the bedouin to tell their story, set in 1916, of young bedouin boy theeb and his older brother who escort a british soldier and his guide to a well on the way to mecca. The movie is set in a period known as the arab revolt, when arab nationalists sought independence from the ottoman turks. Theeb this 2014 jordanian film made international headlines and won multiple awards with its plot about a young bedouin boys journey through the jordanian desert in wwi. In the ottoman province of hijaz during world war i, a young bedouin boy experiences a greatly hastened comingofage as he embarks on a perilous desert journey to guide a british officer to his secret destination. Theeb deals with is nothing less grand than survival.
Theeb is filmed entirely with bedouin people for whom this is their first experience of acting. The martian with matt damon, was filmed in wadi rum jordan. Like many movies before, theeb is filmed in the beautiful wadi rum desert, but this time it is something different. Its classic stuff, and its easy to imagine the story set in arizona or new mexico with john ford directing john wayne two. So if the panoramas awed you in those movies theyll strike you as well in this. Filmed in the same locations as parts of lawrence of arabia 1962. Abu nowar himself has even taken to describing his film as a bedouin western, and the genres. Bassel ghandour wrote the script and shared it with naji abu nowar with the idea to do a short film.
How we filmed our bedouin western in the heat of the desert bfi. Theeb is set in 1916, and was filmed in jordans wadi rum valley, where many of the bedouin tribespeople have settled. The theeb director describes the films arduous journey. The bedouin western movie by director and cowriter naji abu nowars first feature film was selected out of 80 contenders from around the world. Theeb, which was filmed entirely in the southern badia, is one of only two shortlisted films not from europe the second being colombian feature embrace of the serpent. Nominated for the 2016 academy award for best foreign language film.
Your local bedouin guide will stop at all the main sites especially lawrences spring, khazali canyon, a wadi rum icon. Theeb is the directorial debut of naji abu nowar, a britishborn filmmaker who grew up in jordan and has described theeb as an arabic w estern in the tradition of sergio leone. In 1916, while war rages in the ottoman empire, hussein raises his younger brother theeb wolf in a traditional bedouin community that is isolated by the vast, unforgiving desert. At first theeb reminds me of other sparse productions like vvhitch, earlier in 2016, and from a few years ago meeks cutoff a western, which productionwise, was just the actors, their costumes, horses, wagons and the landscape which made up the movie. Nov 06, 2015 the movie is set in a period known as the arab revolt, when arab nationalists sought independence from the ottoman turks. The intriguing ny fashion show inspired by jordanian movie. General admission is free for residents of wayne, oakland and macomb counties. It lands in cinemas today after a long promotional campaign and audiences are set to the scared senseless over its opening weekend.
Visiting the beach movie location may not be the paradise you think. First world war movie theeb tackles desert location. Theeb is a 100minute desert adventure filmed entirely in the southern jordanian deserts. While preparing to do the film, bassel, naji, and producer rupert lloyd, spent a year in the desert.
First world war movie theeb tackles desert location filming in jordan first world war story theeb filmed entirely on location in jordan. This location, aside from more robust trees, still looks and feels the same as it did in the film. Writerdirector naji abu nowar was born in britain and currently lives in amman, jordan. Theeb 2014 theeb is a arabic language movie and broke significant ground for jordanian cinema. Approaching the intersection of white oak and tulsa. Dec 21, 2015 theeb was also released in 12 countries in the arab world and europe and is set to have a limited rerelease in several arab countries, details of which will be revealed soon. Theeb is one of the most bythebooks westerns to ever take place outside the american west. Feb 04, 2017 the most famous one is theeb but theres also these, but theses are in wdi rum in the area of petra. Theeb 2014 naji abu nowar in theeb 2014 theeb 2014.
Theeb, which was filmed entirely in the southern badia, is one of only two shortlisted films not from europe the. Its an austere but gorgeous sceneamatic endeavor filmed in many of the same locations as lawrence of arabia and also near where more recently ridley scotts the martian was shot. Kingdom eyeing film tourism after success of theeb, the. The most famous one is theeb but theres also these, but theses are in wdi rum in the area of petra. The wideopen spaces of jordan, where theeb was filmed, are as aweinspiring in their breadth and aridity as the vistas in a spaghetti western. Laith almajali the broader uprisings have, of course, since. In what order are movies filmed like what scenes do they. The films producers collaborated with the bedouin tribes to get a slice of. With jacir eid alhwietat, hussein salameh alsweilhiyeen, hassan mutlag almaraiyeh, jack fox. First world war movie theeb tackles desert location filming. The film is about a young bedouin boy named theeb, played by jacir eid, who must adventure across the large desert of wadi rum. Aptly described as an arab western, theeb unravels in the ruthless heat of jordans desert, where abu nowar spent a year with the last nomadic bedouin tribe. Army cavalry officer who must escort a cheyenne war. Theeb was filmed entirely in the southern jordanian desert.
The terminator is back and ready to lead the weekend box office. Nov 03, 2018 with such wonderful landscapes and an exceptional historical heritage, jordan is obivously a great place for movie makers. As savage ottoman mercenaries initially appear the more wolf like as they mercilessly hunt down any and. We looked at this movie called theeb, said nicholas ks nicholas kunz. Nov 09, 2017 theeb is a jewel a spectacularly epic adventure. Events are seen through the eyes of theeb jacir eid, a. An old school adventure movie set in the jordan desert, about a. Filming in these areas were complicated by the fact that they were quite touristheavy precisely because they had featured in david lean s epic. Hostiles is a 2017 american revisionist western film written and directed by scott cooper, based on a story by donald e. It takes place in the middle east surrounding world war i. Featured in the ee british academy film awards 2016 see more. The intriguing ny fashion show inspired by jordanian movie theeb. They reach the well, but find that the water has been contaminated by corpses thrown into it. Theres an english soldier with a world war i mission in ottoman arabia, with bedouins guiding.
For example, theeb and the martian were both filmed in wadi rum, yet this same filming location was successful to serve two different types of sets, one of which was mars. That question, posed in the spellbinding jordanian adventure film theeb, drives a story set in the farthest reaches of the ottoman empire in. After his fathers death, walt moves to his dads hometown to learn more about who his father was. It is stark and beautiful and portrays a world that is the same. In most cases, the order is determined by logistical considerations. It was initially closed from juneseptember 2018 to allow its coral reefs and environment to recover from overtourism but thailands department of national parks, wildlife and plant conservation announced on 2nd october that it would remain closed. On location at the intersection of white oak and tulsa. Sep 15, 2016 we looked at this movie called theeb, said nicholas ks nicholas kunz. Writerdirector naji abu nowar was born in britain and.
Mar 16, 2015 theebs desert setting brings to mind the stark beauty of monument valley, where john ford shot many of the films that defined the western genre during its classical phase. No longer the mystical home of lawrence of arabia or the otherworldly red planet, we see the desert as it is raw, beautiful, rough and truly home to the bedouin actors who shape this film. The most famous beach in thailand is now closed indefinitely to allow the. Feb 19, 2016 in the oscarnominated jordanian film theeb, the eponymous character, a young boy still untutored in the ways of the desert, is stranded in a particularly hostile corner of the ottoman empire. Theeb seems similar visually in terms of the visual in visually. Theeb film could make academy awards history for jordan the.
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