NOTES:
1) The actresses in the video above are a sample of how the actual characters will be portrayed. We will cast the film actresses once we get your support!
2) To give you an idea of the director's work, here is his 2012 Oscars-Qualified short film "Bahiya & Mahmoud". More under REWARDS section below.
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After
a lifetime of being trapped by tradition in a lower middle-class neighborhood
in Amman, Zainab lives a dreary existence as a local seamstress and her
father’s keeper; a stubborn and emotionally distant old man who is going blind. The day
Zainab decides to break the shackles of her past her father mysteriously
disappears, dashing all her hopes of making a life-changing decision. Zainab
must now reunite with her three estranged sisters at the old family home, to find their family patriarch.
Zainab
soon realizes that she has unwillingly created a recipe for disaster: Cold,
cynical and rich Samah argues with Amaal who is poor, extremely religious and
wears the niqab. In turn, they clash with their liberal, stubborn and overly
independent little sister Khitam. Along the way the sisters discover - through
fights and laughs - that their father, much like them, was a victim of cultural conformity. Only by uniting will they be able to overcome their
differences, find their father, and realize who they truly want to be.
DAUGHTERS
OF ABDUL-RAHMAN is a universal family drama about women making choices in a
patriarchal society. It is an uplifting tale about four very different sisters
who have to confront the truth about themselves in the most unlikely of
situations. The FOUR sisters may, or may not find their father (wink wink), but they will realize their rights and the real meaning of freedom. And that is why we need your support...
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I grew up in the middle east during the 80s and 90s with four brothers. Being a boy myself and having never had sisters, I always wondered: what if we were 4 girls living under
the same conditions? Would my 3 brothers be as happy as they are today, if they were
women? Would my modern Jordanian parents still be content if I
was the same film director at age 32 living alone in Hollywood, but a woman? Or would being married with children seem more
appropriate for a Middle Eastern woman at this age? How are tradition, modernity and the need for
social acceptance defined in the Middle East and precisely Jordan? Do patriarchal societies dictate the lives of women, and men alike? Despite people's attempts to overcome tradition, conformity and sometimes indoctrination, a part of them still wants it, a part of them feels safer with it. To tap into all this, a boy turns to his mother!
My mother is a content mother and wife, but is that all what she needs? Does she have dreams and hopes that
fade away under the social pressure of having to be the good big sister, good wife then good mother of four boys?
Do women or even men in this part of the world make their personal life decisions independently from the influences of family and culture? An awakening made me start carrying my notebook in Amman,
observing traditions, analyzing behaviors, meeting different women and urging them to open up. Representing my idea in a family of 4 sisters and their father, I
started writing my film treatment in 2009.
The theme of the film investigates how gossip and fear of scandal shapes the lives of
people in our societies. Abiding by the social formula of
acceptance is the only way to “fit in”. I realized that our life stories are inherently oppressed, and the one way to stop that is to end a self-fulfilling chain of suppressed mothers.
Daughters of Abdul-Rahman is
an unapologetic, female-empowering film that will deal
with serious issues in a poetic yet dark comedic style. This is not a drama that condemns the man or victimizes the woman, nor it is a comedy that stays on the surface. This film is a dramatic comedy that explores a patriarchal society practiced by both, men and also women.
Jordan is an extremely diverse culture that is ruled by a set of traditions. Many of these traditions are positive, strong and honorable, while some others… Well, that’s why I am making this film!
Zaid Abu Hamdan
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Hi! My name is Zaid and I am the guy all over the video above (thanks for watching!).
My most vivid memories growing up in Jordan are watching old Hollywood and Egyptian movie classics. Even though I was a world away, I knew I wanted to be part of this world that not only saw the magic of those stories, but also was able to create them spectacularly. Finally, my journey started in 2001! I left my family and life in Jordan to explore the world, and pursue a career in film. I was eager to learn about what’s out there, to explore a world out of my comfort zone. I wanted to broaden my horizons and learn about everything that is not my beloved country. All that led up to where I have now been living for 7 years, Hollywood California!
In 2008, I had gotten my BA degree in Communication Arts: TV/Film and a minor in Psychology from the Lebanese American University. After that I worked several years in the entertainment field until I finally decided to pursue a career in film, and I was thankful for being able to get a Masters Degree from Hollywood California! With hard work and determination, I graduated with honors and made several short films that won many awards internationally. My last short film, BAHIA & MAHMOUD won the BEST OF THE FEST award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival & ShortFest in 2011, and qualified for an Academy Award in 2012 – short film category! Yep… that did happen. Now you can own all my short films as part of the perks for backing this project.
During these years, I wrote and directed 6 films in English, Arabic, Mandarin, Hebrew and Japanese. I ultimately concluded that telling stories is my way of making sense of the world, how my beating heart balances out my racing mind.
In conclusion, I believe that if my heart is touched by a nuance in life, there’s a chance that it could do the same for wide audiences. And this is what this campaign is about, a “nuance” that touched my heart in a conversation I had with my beautiful mother in 2009.
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Apart from using this money to earn more funds, reaching this campaign goal will provide us with the significant
resources to secure major elements of making the film. How much we raise from crowd-funding
will have a direct impact on proceeding with the film according to plan. Here is how the $55,000 be allocated:
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After over three years of developing the screenplay up to completing the 7th draft, we have faith that with your support, we will create the magical, heartwarming and enlightening film experience to share with audiences around the world. It all begins here, with this startup fund!
IF WE DO MAKE OUR GOAL!
1- First, we will CELEBRATE and post a video of that (buckle up)!
2- We will start locating the rest of the funding through grants and private money.
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3- We will set a stretch goal. Eventually we will need 5 times this campaign goal amount to make the film. So, when we hit our goal, we will set a stretch goal!
Anything we make over our stretch goal will go directly to support family protection and women organizations in Jordan, and we will announce the organizations' grantees here once we donate!
IF WE DO NOT MAKE OUR GOAL
1 - We will cry a
little, maybe bang our heads to the wall, get discouraged a tiny bit...
2-We will get back on our feet and proceed with applying the money we have
towards the list above, in order of importance. Ain't nothing gonna stop us now!
Interested in pledging or supporting after this campaign? Send us an email!
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In return for your generous support, we have a bunch of awesome perks listed on the right of this page, explaining the fun stuff you can get by backing this project. The rewards start from a loud shoutout on our social media to ASSOCIATE PRODUCER credit. In between there are film posters, Limited Edition T-shirts, award-winning short films, and even Dead Sea salt!
Here are the trailers of the 3 award winning short films we decided to share with you RIGHT NOW for backing this campaign. You can have 1, 2 or 3 short films starting at the $50, or what we called, "ABDUL-RAHMAN"!
1 - BAHIYA & MAHMOUD (FULL FILM - online temporarily)
Qualified for an Academy Award 2012
3 - CITY OF MEMORIES (TRAILER)
4 - LOVE, OLDER... JACK & MARTHA (IMDB Link)
Some of the director's previous awards
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NOTE: Our perks range from $10 to $20,000. BUT if you really love this project and are feeling even more generous (whaaat?), start by contacting us here email!
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Jordan is not only the land of ancient Kingdoms, home for a world wonder and incredible historical and natural sites, but also it’s a go-to location for many mega Hollywood, British and International movies. Those include Tomb Raider, Hurt locker, Mortal Combat, Lawrence of Arabia and many others.
Check out this video to see how awesome Jordan is for film:
DAUGHTERS OF ABDUL-RAHMAN is on this same land, but bringing a story of Jordanians. Lives, complexity, humor and oh-boy lots of drama!
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Fund –
and enjoy one of our cool rewards!
SHARE THIS PAGE – Use the Indiegogo tools above and share with others about this campaign. Facebook, Twitter, email... all that social media stuff you're good at.
WRITE A BLOG OR ARTICLE – Do you have a blog and want to shed light on this topic? We welcome your support and will happily send you more info if needed. Help us get the word out!
CONNECT US WITH INVESTMENT – Do you know an organization or individual interested in women issues and film? Please shoot them our way and get on board!
INTERESTED IN PLEDGING OR SPONSORING AFTER THIS CAMPAIGN?
Email us
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Naturally, we aim to reach our goal and set a bigger one while we get our project rolling! But until then, you trusted us, and want to share out our plan....
Based on the successful end of this campaign, we plan to shoot around summer or autumn of 2015. Reaching our goal will expedite the process of casting the right four lead actresses and the father role and speed pre-production on the ground while funding the rest of the film. Once we have enough funds to complete production, we're going for it while we fund the post-production stage. The issue that might arise in casting is that the director is not looking particularly for any known actresses, but is open to discovering new talent. This might take some time, but we are sure it will be thrilling.
Like any other project seeking crowd-funding, not reaching our goal will slow down the process of making this film come to life, but we will keep going at it. It's all worth the hard work our team put in so far and still going strong. Of course, we are doing everything we can to shoot on time, finish the film and package your rewards!
Thank you again for all your support :)
Since the birth of the film idea in June 2009, the screenplay was selected to highly respected international screenplay development programs:
(2012) Producers Guild of America: One of 11 Internationally selected projects for presentation at the annual PGA ProShow.