09 Dec 2021; MEMO: Jordan yesterday banned the screening of a film which producers hoped would be the country's entry to the Oscars.
The move came after widespread criticism of 'Amira', which the Palestinian Authority described as "unequivocably offends the history and struggles of the Palestinian prisoners."
The movie, which tells the story of 17-year-old Palestinian, Amira, who discovers that she was born through the process of smuggled sperm as her father was detained by the Israeli occupation. However, as she grows older, she finds out that her father's semen had been replaced with that of an Israeli prison guard; turning her life was up-side down.
According to Palestinian sources, more than 100 children have been born after their fathers' sperm was smuggled from Israeli jails over the past decade.
The PA warned against circulating the "controversial" film, stressing this would have serious repercussions "especially as it harms their [prisoners'] families after they have children from sperm-smuggling."
In response to the controversy, "Jordan has officially decided to ban the broadcast of the the feature-film 'Amira'", Qadri Abu Bakr, the chairman of the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission, told QNN.
Palestinian activists and journalists launched an online campaign using the hashtag #Pull_Out_Amira to express their rejection of the film.
The film was coproduced by Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian filmmakers and shot in Jordan. It has received a number of international awards.
