Captain Abu Raed

By Benjamin Lutz

The short:

Captain Abu Raed is a 2007 Jordanian film directed and written by Amin Matalqa. It is the first feature film produced in Jordan in more than 50 years

The long:

Abu Raed is an airport janitor at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan. After finding a Royal Jordanian captain's hat in the trash, the neighborhood children mistake him for an airline pilot and beg him to tell them stories of his adventures. At first, refusing, he later concedes and tells them about his fictional travels to England, France, and New York, earning the name "Captain Abu Raed.” An older child, Murad, knows who Abu Raed really is and sets out to prove the other children wrong, repeating the phrase "People like us don't grow up to be pilots." With some dinars he found, Murad takes the other children on a taxi ride to the airport to show them the truth about Abu Raed. The children are heartbroken at seeing their idol on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor.

It is later shown that Murad had stolen the money from his father Abu Murad, who, drunk after a hard day selling women's clothing on the street, often abused Murad's mother, Um Murad. Abu Murad was exceptionally mad about the loss of money and took it out on his wife. Abu Raed, after being exposed as a phony, forgave Murad and gave him the pilot hat as a token of forgiveness. Later, Murad steals a model airplane and gets his hand burned by his father for it. Abu Raed is there to comfort him, creating a bond between the two. This event convinces Abu Raed to find a way to bring Murad, his younger brother, and his mother to safety.

To watch or not to watch?

To watch!!! . This is the first-ever film submitted by Jordan to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.[2] The film won awards at numerous film festivals. It is such a well-made, well-written, and well-acted story, it feels as if you are living in Amman alongside the characters.