Captain Abu Raed (2008)

When an old airport janitor finds a captain's hat in the trash, he gets pulled into the lives of children in his poor neighborhood. He weaves imaginary stories of his world adventures to offer hope in the face of their harsh reality.

Director:

Amin Matalqa

Writer:

Amin Matalqa

Stars:

Nadim Sawalha, Rana Sultan, Hussein Al-Sous

14 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nadim Sawalha	...	Abu Raed
Rana Sultan	...	Nour
Hussein Al-Sous	...	Murad
Odai Qedese	...	Tareq (as Udey Al-Qiddissi)
Ghandi Saber	...	Abu Murad
Dina Raad-Yaghnam	...	Um Murad
Mohammad Qteshat	...	Hilal
Nadim Mushahwar	...	Sameh
Faisal Majali	...	Ziad
Lina Attel	...	Nour's Mom
Ali Maher	...	Nour' s Dad
Khaled Al-Safi	...	Ali
Rami Samara	...	Rami
Ayat Najah Abd Al-Sadeq	...	Petra (as Ayat Daoud)
Khuloud Khaled Issa	...	Khuloud

Storyline

Abu Raed is an old airport janitor who has always yearned of seeing the world but has never been able to afford to travel. One day a group of children in his poor neighborhood assume he is a pilot and beg him to share stories of the world outside of Amman, Jordan. Through imaginary tales a friendship forms and he finds the grim realities of the children's home life. He takes it upon himself to make a difference.

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Plot Keywords:

children | janitor | three word title | mistaken identity | independent film | 

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Taglines:

Everyone has a dream.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Jordan

Language:

Arabic French Italian

Release Date:

6 February 2008 (Jordan)

Also Known As:

Abu Raed kapitány

Filming Locations:

Amman, Jordan

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paper and Pen Films,GigaPix Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was the sole venture ever offered by the (scam) film company known as'Gigapix', and it's involvement was only as a producer (they gave support, either, financial, or otherwise) to make this. Gigapix was a fraud 'film company, founded by a former soda pop sales man, who thought he could finance such a business through'cold-calling' (i.e.; a 'boiler room'operation). The entire business was a fraud, and its founders are all currently serving prison time

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Goofs

It would be unlikely that a pilot of Noor's age (early thirties) would have acquired enough seniority to be a pilot or co-pilot of the wide bodied aircraft Royal Jordanian use to fly to New York.

User Reviews

Overrated

The filmmaker's cut-throat approach to promoting his film has raised a few eyebrows. Matalqa in numerous interviews claims his film is the first Jordanian feature film in 50 or 30 years. But the truth is two feature films were made in Jordan: The Mission in 2007 and Oriental Tale in 1991. I don't see why it's necessary to try to erase other people's accomplishments to make a name for himself. Why not continue the journey that others have started instead of undermining their legacy. As for the film itself, it's not technically weak but it's not a memorable film. What's noticeable about the film is the presence of so many actors who work in official institutions in Jordan such as employees or former employees of various cultural organizations such as Ali Maher of the Royal Film Commission, Lina Attal (head of Queen Nour Performing Arts Center), Dina Raad (ex-manager at the Royal Film Commission), Phaedra Dahdaleh (ex-Royal Film Commission employee) and others, Rana Sultan (Jordan Government TV presenter). Yet this film is being promoted as an independent film.