Could Oscar glory bolster Jordan's reputation?

Filmed in Jordan

As The Hurt Locker swept the board at Sunday's Oscars ceremony, one country in the Middle East was especially jubilant - Jordan.

The country played host to the film's cast and crew and served as a backdrop to the story about a US bomb disposal team working in Iraq. The film's success and director Kathryn Bigelow's endorsement could see the country serve as a hub for Hollywood films in the future, bolstering its economy as a result.

The Iraqi themed war thriller took home a landslide six awards and became only the second film shot in the Arab kingdom, following the 1963 Lawrence of Arabia, to net an Oscar.

Traditionally, film-makers have found shooting in the Arab world difficult, but every now and then a film-maker endorses a country by shooting their films there bolstering the country's reputation in the wider world. Sir Ridley Scott, for example has a fondness for Morocco and has shot the likes of Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and King of Heaven there, employing local crew and bring a large amount of revenue to the country as a result.

Jordan is hoping for similar luck.

"A young film infrastructure"

The country could not have had a better endorsement than on Sunday, when Kathryn Bigelow paid tribute to Jordan whilst accepting her Oscar for Best Director, becoming the first woman to win the award in the Academy Awards’ 82-year history.

In front of Hollywood's elite, she said "If I could also just thank (…) the people of Jordan who were so hospitable to us when we were shooting."

Bigelow, who spent a two-month stint filming in Jordan in the summer of 2007, has previously said of the location, "You could look 360 degrees in any given day of the shoot and it would be perfect. Shooting in Jordan was a great experience. It’s very cosmopolitan; they have a very rich film school and a young film infrastructure."

Jordan's Royal Film Commission (RFC) had over 150 Jordanian actors and crew working on The Hurt Locker set, and despite the film's modest, independent budget hopes its success will bring other Hollywood productions to the area.

Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Ali, a member of the RFC's board of commissioners, said to the Associated Press, "The success of any movie filmed in Jordan ... is always a plus for our kingdom, for its economy, for its tourism as well as for its budding film industry."

"Foreign films are a valuable learning opportunity for budding filmmakers ... it's a learning experience for those who come from outside to film in Jordan and plays an important role in helping foreigners get to know our people, the Middle East and appreciate who we are," she said.

The RFC, which was established in 2003, aims to promote Jordan as a set location and bolster the country’s fledgling film industry.

A former CNN war correspondent who is married to Prince Ali, a half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah, Princess Rym said: "It’s not only about leaving our mark internationally but also about establishing our stories, owning them and making sure we have a cultural legacy to pass onto our future generations through film."

Bigelow's movie was filmed in the capital Amman and other cities including Madaba which is known for its ancient mosaics, and impoverished Zarqa. Jordan has previously played host to Brian de Palma's 2007 Redacted and Nick Broomfield's Battle for Haditha.

The ancient city of Petra, found in southern Jordan, was famously portrayed in Steven Spielberg's 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the recent Transformers sequel.

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Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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