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By Harut Sassounian

www.thecaliforniacourier.com

As if Armenians did not have enough problems to deal with, they must now insist that Jordan reverse the dropping of its Artsakh-themed Oscar entry under pressure from Azerbaijan.

Jordan’s Royal Film Commission had selected New York-based Jordanian American director Sareen Hairabedian’s My Sweet Land documentary as its entry for the Oscars. The film is produced by Azza Hourani and coproduced by Julie Paratian and David Rane. The executive producers are Beth Levison, Carrie Lozano, Hallee Adelman, Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh. Robina Riccitiello is co-executive producer.

The film features 11-year-old Vrej who lived in Artsakh. After Azerbaijan attacked his village, Vrej and his family escaped and then returned to face devastation.

My Sweet Land had received the Amman International Film Festival’s Jury Award in July for Best Feature Documentary and the FIPRESCI Award for Best Feature-Length Arab Documentary.

However, the Royal Film Commission just announced that “Jordan withdrew its submission of My Sweet Land documentary film due to diplomatic pressures” from Azerbaijan, Deadline reported.

“The Azerbaijan government wrote to Jordan’s Foreign Ministry requesting it reconsider the film’s selection as its Oscar entry, which in turn put pressure on the Jordan’s Royal Film Commission to withdraw the film,” according to Deadline.

The Azeri media confirmed that Azerbaijan complained to Jordan about its Oscar entry. “We welcome the decision of Jordan to withdraw the film and stop its screening in Jordan,” Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada said.

Director Sareen Hairabedian and producer Azza Hourani told Deadline: “This is very devastating news for our team that an emotional intimate story of a child’s love for his home and family was banned and silenced. As documentary filmmakers, this censorship compels us more than ever to share My Sweet Land protagonist Vrej’s story, which reflects the experiences of countless children around the world today, who deserve to dream freely without the threat of war and conflict.”

However, it appears that not all is lost. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “told filmmakers they could submit My Sweet Land for consideration as Best Documentary Feature, if they followed standard qualification procedures. The filmmaking team has scrambled to arrange a qualifying run in the U.S.,” according to Deadline.

“My Sweet Land will have its North American premiere at DOC NYC on November 16th and 17th, and our qualifying theatrical release will take place at Laemmle Theatres [in Los Angeles] starting November 29th,” Hairabedian and Hourani told Deadline. “We remain committed to sharing our truthful story, undeterred by the obstacles we face.”

It is sickening that a work of art would fall victim to political pressure. Regrettably, but not surprisingly, “the move to withdraw the film from the International Feature Film category comes amid growing diplomatic and economic ties between Jordan and Azerbaijan, with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov receiving Jordanian officials in Baku in 2024 to discuss further ongoing cooperation,” Deadline reported.

“Our understanding was that Jordan withdrew the film in order to preserve diplomatic ties between Jordan and Azerbaijan after a complaint from the latter,” the filmmakers told Deadline. “We also learned that after My Sweet Land’s premiere in Jordan at the Amman International Film Festival, Azerbaijan’s embassy had also filed a complaint against screening the film publicly. So, My Sweet Land, a film that was celebrated weeks prior at the festival, was suddenly banned in one of its home countries.”

“Jordan’s Royal Film Commission is the governing body of the Amman International Film Festival. At that event in July 2024, My Sweet Land won three prizes: Jury Award for Best Arab Documentary, the Audience Award and the International Film Critics Award (FIPRESCI). The documentary premiered in June at Sheffield DocFest, the most prestigious nonfiction festival in the U.K., where it was nominated for the International First Feature Award,” according to Deadline.

Sheffield DocFest programmers wrote of the film, “Vrej, the subject of Sareen Hairabedian’s impressive feature debut -- a striking coming-of-age tale -- has grown up in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan. Since the end of the Soviet era it has witnessed much conflict. The 11-year-old watches birds, plays with friends and dreams of being a dentist. But echoes of the three wars his family have lived through since 1992 are ever-present. His grandmother laments the cycle of ethnic violence: ‘Living in Artsakh means that one day there will be a war and my grandson will participate in that war’. As his school lessons become increasingly militarized and Vrej struggles to hold on to his childhood dreams, his grandmother watches her prophecy unfold.”

In an email to Deadline, Jordan’s Royal Film Commission (RFC) highlighted the awards earned by My Sweet Land at the Amman International Film Festival and noted that the film “received development funding from the RFC’s Jordan Film Fund in 2021.”

Armenians worldwide, led by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, should complain to the Jordanian government. They should not let this Azeri pressure on Jordan go unchallenged. Losing Artsakh should not mean that Armenians would also lose the public relations battle where connections and planning replace drones and military might.

First of all, the Armenian community in Jordan should immediately use all of their contacts with the Jordanian government to demand that the Jordanian Foreign Ministry reverse its decision and not buckle under Azerbaijan’s ugly pressure.

Secondly, the Armenian Foreign Ministry should send a diplomatic note to the Jordanian government objecting to allowing Azerbaijan to interference in Jordan’s internal decisions.

Thirdly, Armenians worldwide should contact Jordanian Embassies and Consulates to express their utter displeasure at Jordan succumbing to Azeri threats and intimidation.