What if the freedom that you’ve always craved resides in the place you least expect? In the new film “Blessed Benefit,” 45-year-old construction worker Ahmad (Ahmad Thaher) is arrested for fraud after using a client’s down payment to help his cousin sell 10 brand-new laptops. While he waits in prison for his debt to be repaid, he worries about his family and their financial situation, but soon realizes he feels liberated in prison as all of his material concerns are taken care of by the institution. Now, his new worry is that he’ll lose the liberty thrust upon him. Watch an exclusive trailer for the film below.
Read More: The 2016 IndieWire Tiff Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
The film is directed by Mahmoud al Massad. He previously directed two feature-length documentaries: “Recycle,” which follows an ex-mujahadi fighter struggling to make a living in Jordan,...
Read More: The 2016 IndieWire Tiff Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
The film is directed by Mahmoud al Massad. He previously directed two feature-length documentaries: “Recycle,” which follows an ex-mujahadi fighter struggling to make a living in Jordan,...
- 9/20/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
“Blessed Benefit” (“Inshallah Estafadit”) written and directed by Mahmoud al Massad is a bit of a joke, but a dark joke being played upon the people of Jordan. Ten years ago, telling such a story of their degradation would have been a real joke. Today, to Mahmoud Al Massad’s chagrin, it is a true story.
This is story of Everyman who, in his misadventures with the law and the lawless, finds the blessed benefit of sharing the human comedy with others imprisoned for all trying to eke out a way to live in society, which, as I listened to the urgency in Mahmoud’s voice, has become atrociously greedy and violent within the space of the last ten years.
Maher Khammash as El Mor and Ahmad Thaher as himself, Ahmad
I spoke with Mahmoud at length and wished we could have had more time and hope we will indeed have more time at a future time.
This is story of Everyman who, in his misadventures with the law and the lawless, finds the blessed benefit of sharing the human comedy with others imprisoned for all trying to eke out a way to live in society, which, as I listened to the urgency in Mahmoud’s voice, has become atrociously greedy and violent within the space of the last ten years.
Maher Khammash as El Mor and Ahmad Thaher as himself, Ahmad
I spoke with Mahmoud at length and wished we could have had more time and hope we will indeed have more time at a future time.
- 9/19/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- In the wake of Sept. 11, we still are seeking to comprehend the minds of our enemies. Slogans about an axis of evil are less enlightening than deeper investigations of the roots of fanaticism in the Middle East.
Recycle, one of the documentaries in the world competition at Sundance, makes a valiant attempt to add to our understanding. While the film might not have much potential in American theaters, it will find a receptive home at other festivals.
Filmmaker Mahmoud al Massad grew up in Zarqa, the second-largest city in Jordan. The city also was the birthplace of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, Abu Musa al Zarqawi, who was killed in 2005 by American troops in Iraq. Massad returned to Jordan to try to gain insight into what might have motivated a man like al Zarqawi to turn into a terrorist.
Massad interviews relatives and acquaintances of al Zarqawi, who discuss his undistinguished background and his radical transformation. But the main focus of the film is a junk dealer named Abu Anmar, who ekes out a living recycling cardboard boxes and trash. While detailing the daily struggles of this ordinary man, Massad means to tell us something about the poverty and discontent that play a part in the radicalization of the disaffected everywhere.
As a piece of portraiture, however, the film is not fully satisfying. It's possible that some members of Anmar's family refused to cooperate with the filmmaker. Msasad refers to Anmar's fractured relationship with his father, but we never learn the reasons for the rift. We do get the impression that Anmar's hectoring relationship with his own sons mirrors his own upbringing, but the film doesn't probe deeply enough into the family dynamic.
Similarly, we learn late in the film that Anmar has been married twice, and his children are from a first marriage. But this domestic history is left too sketchy, perhaps because of Arab prohibitions of allowing women to appear on camera. (His current wife appears briefly in one scene in a medical clinic, in full burka.)
Yet it's fascinating to see scenes of daily life in a part of the world rarely exposed to American audiences. Massad shot the film himself and gives us a vivid sense of life in Zarqa. It also is intriguing to eavesdrop on conversations in which the Jordanians give their impressions of our leaders as well as their own.
There are many telling details in the film, even if it ultimately raises more questions than it can possibly answer.
RECYCLE
Isee Film
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-producer: Mahmoud al Massad
Executive producers: Paul Augusteijn, Alexander Goekjian
Director of photography: Mahmoud al Massad
Co-producers: Irit Neidhardt, Omar Massad, Sabine Groenewegen
Editors: Ali Hammad, Sammy Chekhes
Running time -- 78 minutes
No MPAA rating...
PARK CITY -- In the wake of Sept. 11, we still are seeking to comprehend the minds of our enemies. Slogans about an axis of evil are less enlightening than deeper investigations of the roots of fanaticism in the Middle East.
Recycle, one of the documentaries in the world competition at Sundance, makes a valiant attempt to add to our understanding. While the film might not have much potential in American theaters, it will find a receptive home at other festivals.
Filmmaker Mahmoud al Massad grew up in Zarqa, the second-largest city in Jordan. The city also was the birthplace of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, Abu Musa al Zarqawi, who was killed in 2005 by American troops in Iraq. Massad returned to Jordan to try to gain insight into what might have motivated a man like al Zarqawi to turn into a terrorist.
Massad interviews relatives and acquaintances of al Zarqawi, who discuss his undistinguished background and his radical transformation. But the main focus of the film is a junk dealer named Abu Anmar, who ekes out a living recycling cardboard boxes and trash. While detailing the daily struggles of this ordinary man, Massad means to tell us something about the poverty and discontent that play a part in the radicalization of the disaffected everywhere.
As a piece of portraiture, however, the film is not fully satisfying. It's possible that some members of Anmar's family refused to cooperate with the filmmaker. Msasad refers to Anmar's fractured relationship with his father, but we never learn the reasons for the rift. We do get the impression that Anmar's hectoring relationship with his own sons mirrors his own upbringing, but the film doesn't probe deeply enough into the family dynamic.
Similarly, we learn late in the film that Anmar has been married twice, and his children are from a first marriage. But this domestic history is left too sketchy, perhaps because of Arab prohibitions of allowing women to appear on camera. (His current wife appears briefly in one scene in a medical clinic, in full burka.)
Yet it's fascinating to see scenes of daily life in a part of the world rarely exposed to American audiences. Massad shot the film himself and gives us a vivid sense of life in Zarqa. It also is intriguing to eavesdrop on conversations in which the Jordanians give their impressions of our leaders as well as their own.
There are many telling details in the film, even if it ultimately raises more questions than it can possibly answer.
RECYCLE
Isee Film
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-producer: Mahmoud al Massad
Executive producers: Paul Augusteijn, Alexander Goekjian
Director of photography: Mahmoud al Massad
Co-producers: Irit Neidhardt, Omar Massad, Sabine Groenewegen
Editors: Ali Hammad, Sammy Chekhes
Running time -- 78 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/30/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- The do-gooders over at the Sundance Institute have announced the four projects that will benefit from the expertise of others. Now in its fifth year, the Documentary Film Editing and Story Laboratory merges creative advisors with the lucky few who get some hands on help. The Creative Advisors for the 2007 Documentary Editing and Story Lab are: editors Jean-Philippe Boucicaut (Citizen King and Matters Of Race); Kate Amend (Thin, and Academy Award-winner The Long Way Home); Lewis Erskine (Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple and Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind); Mary Lampson (A Lion in the House and Harlan County) and accomplished directors Robb Moss (Secrecy and The Same River Twice) and Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (The Inner Tour and James’ Journey To Jerusalem). Here are the brief descriptions of the lucky four projects that should get a Sundance festival birth fairly soon. Tibet In Song
- 6/15/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.