Published: July 07, 2023| 09:29 AM

The result of a pregnancy test will decide the fate of the main character in the film Inshallah a Boy, a widow on the brink of losing her older daughter, honour and home. The first Jordanian film to be included in the Cannes programme selection puts her decision into the context of the rigid patriarchal world where women are the lesser beings. While director Amjad Al Rasheed based the film on stories he saw around him, the film emphasizes global issues. “Women feel they get the short end of the stick, regardless of their religion or social status,” the director noted to the audience in the Small Hall.

The viewers asked how the film would be received in Jordan. “Filmmaking is quite a new thing in our country. Rather than a film industry, it is a movement, a small group of storytellers. People are very sensitive and not yet ready to face a reflection of themselves,” he explained. “But that is precisely why films like mine are necessary. A film can raise crucial questions, instigate society to reconsider what they consider normal,” the director concluded the discussion.