The opening program of the festival, held under the patronage of the Minister of Culture Mustafa Al-Ruwaishdeh, includes a film documenting a part of Madanat's career and his cinematic experience, and what he has contributed over decades in the fields of directing, research, criticism, and film education.
Madanat's name has been prominent since the early 1970s in several Arab and international film festivals and forums, alongside his presence as a film researcher and critic, and his participation in seminars, dialogues, and specialized events in the seventh art.
Born in Amman in 1946, Madanat is one of the most prominent figures in film culture in Jordan and the Arab world. In 1970, he obtained a higher diploma in cinema and television from Moscow University, before continuing his career in directing, writing, and researching cinema issues.
Madanat directed a number of documentary and feature films that dealt with Arab cultural and national topics. He was also engaged in critical research and writing, and produced studies, books, and translations that addressed issues of Arab cinema, its transformations, and its challenges.
Madanat played a significant role in establishing and developing film culture in Jordan. He founded the Cinema Department at the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation and supervised, for decades, the film screening program and the Cinema Club, presenting hundreds of films, dialogues, and discussions that contributed to the formation of an audience interested in cinema and visual arts, and enhancing cinematic awareness among successive generations.
In the field of authorship, he has published several books and specialized studies on cinema, including 'In Search of Cinema', 'Transformations of Contemporary Arab Cinema', 'Cinema in Search of Itself', and 'The Crisis of Arab Cinema', in addition to his participation in juries, seminars, and Arab and international film festivals.
The recognition of Madanat in the 11th Jordan International Film Festival is in appreciation of a career that has contributed to keeping cinema present in the Jordanian cultural scene and enhancing dialogue about Arab cinema and its role in expressing cultural, national, and humanitarian issues.
