Business & Finance Club - Amman : The EU Delegation to Jordan is launching the 22nd edition of the European Film Festival on Saturday 25 September 2010 with films showing at the Royal Film Commission and the Hussein Cultural Centre in Amman.

Sixteen European films from Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, UK, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Romania and Poland will be screened during the Festival.

The festival premieres on Saturday with a screening of the Belgian film Khadak, set in the frozen steppes of Mongolia, and telling the epic story of Bagi, a young nomad confronted with his destiny to become a shaman when a plague strikes the animals and the nomads are forcibly relocated to desolate mining towns.

The Festival, held under the patronage of HRH Princess Rym Al Ali will last until 02 October 2010. Side events include dance performances and a competition for young Jordanian filmmakers.

A press conference was held on the 21st of September to announce the launch of the festival. The conference was attended by His Excellency the Belgian Ambassador to Jordan Mr. Johan Indekeu, Chargée d'Affaires, a.i, of the Delegation of the European Union in Amman Mrs. Irène Mingasson,, Representative of Greater Amman Municipality Ms. Shaima Tell,, and Representative of the Royal Film Commission Ms. Nada Domani. Expressing her pride in this event, Mrs. Irène Mingasson said: "We are proud of this annual event ,as it  has become a cultural window through which both the Europeans and the Jordanians view each other's cultures through the common language of film art."

The programme of the festival, which takes place at Al-Hussein Cultural Centre and the Royal Film Commission, includes a range of films recently produced in 16 European countries (Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Britain, Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Poland, and Romania).

These films touch contemporary human and societal themes, such as coming of age, preservation of a way of life, the juxtaposition of love and war, and finding common grounds. The festival will also include a variety of cultural and artistic side events, including: storytelling, cinematic readings, street dance performance in Lweibdeh Garden on the 29th of September, in addition to a hip-hop performance by Accrorap band (France) at the Hussein Cultural Centre on the 30th of the same month. The programme of this edition will also include the screening of short films and children films in Zarqa, Jordan's Capital of Culture for 2010.

The opening ceremony, for invited guests, will be held under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Ali at the headquarters of the Royal Film Commission. Its proceedings will take place  on the evening of the 25th of the month. During the ceremony, the winners of the Jordanian film competition on human rights , which is organised in cooperation with Karama Human Rights Films Festival, will be announced. A cooperation agreement will also be signed between the members of the European Union National Institutes for Culture, (EUNIC) cluster.

The agreement is drafted with  the purpose of creating effective partnerships between participating organisations. From another angle, this agreement aims to improve and promote cultural diversity and understanding between European societies, and it strives to strengthen international dialogue and co-operation with countries outside Europe.

The festival will debut with a screening on Saturday 25 September of the Belgian film (Khadak), by Robinson Woodworth. This film received in 2006 the awards of Venice International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. The film, with duration of 104 minutes, tells the epic story of Bagi, a young nomad in the frigid plains of Mongolia, where a plague strikes the animals and the nomads are forcibly relocated to desolate mining towns. Bagi saves the life of the beautiful coal thief "Zolzaia", and together they discover that the plague is a lie fabricated to terminate nomadic life.