Following its huge success touring more than 80 film festivals, reaping two international awards and 15 award nominations, all the profits garnered from the music video that was made for the ‘Captains of Za’atari’ film by Wegz will be directed to the Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan.
This will be a contribution to developing living facilities in the camp. The song reflects the situation of refugees and the hardships they go through after losing their homeland, a situation that affects all refugees around the world, especially young people and their dreams and aspirations that seem far-fetched.
Captains of Za’atari was directed and produced by Ali Al-Arab. The film’s song, performed by well-known rapper Wegz, will be launched a few days ahead of the film’s release in Egyptian theaters.
The film had a special screening last Monday at Zawya Cinema that was organised by the UNHCR and UNFPA with Film Clinic Indie Distribution and Ambient Light. It will be officially released for public screenings from 23 to 31 March at Cairo Festival City Mall’s Cinemas, Zamalek Cinema, and VOX Cinema in Mall of Egypt.
Despite the exceptional circumstances that the young people living in the camp found themselves in, the lyrics of the song come from the tongue of Wegz, who represents them, expressing their adherence to the hope of returning to the homeland and the certainty of their ability to realise their dreams, taking Egyptian Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah as a role model for them, and thus emphasising the idea that hope can be birthed out of hardship.
The film follows the story of two best friends — Mahmoud and Fawzi — who have been living in the Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan for five years. Despite their harsh circumstances, they dream of playing soccer professionally. A chance to achieve their shared dream present itself when a world-renowned sports academy visits the camp.
The film recently won the Golden Star award at the 5th edition of the El-Gouna Film Festival as well as a Special Jury Award for Best International Documentary and Feature Film at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.
Captains of Za’atari was also featured in over 80 film festivals worldwide, among which were the Visions du Reel Documentary festival, Human Rights Film Festival in Berlin, and Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival.
Moreover, it was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Film category. It was also nominated for over 15 international awards and landed its world premiere at the Sundance film festival, where it was chosen as the second-best film.
