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