Jordanian filmmaker Azza Hourani produced 'My Sweet Land', which was developed as a co-production between Ireland, France, Jordan and the US.
Jordan has nominated the feature documentary My Sweet Land, by Sareen Hairabedian, as the country’s official entry for the 97th Academy Awards to compete in the International Feature Film category for the year 2024.
The documentary centres on 11-year-old Vrej, who dreams of becoming a dentist in his village in Artsakh, a region in Nagorno-Karabakh, long embroiled in conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. When war reignites, Vrej and his family are forced to flee, only to return to a devastated homeland after their people’s defeat. The film captures Vrej’s struggle with loss, trauma, and the reality of future battles.
Directed by Jordanian-Armenian filmmaker Sareen Hairabedian, My Sweet Land is her feature debut, following her award-winning 40-minute HBO documentary We Are Not Done Yet. The film premiered at Sheffield DocFest this year and has since garnered accolades at several festivals, including the Amman International Film Festival, where it won the Jury Award for Best Feature Documentary and the FIPRESCI Award for Best Arab Documentary.
Produced by Azza Hourani under HAI Creative, the film is a co-production with Sister Productions, Soilsíu Films, ITVS, ARTE France and World of HA Productions. Co-producers Julie Paratian and David Rane, along with executive producers Beth Levison, Carrie Lozano, Hallee Adelman, Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, contributed to the project. Robina Riccitiello served as co-executive producer.
The selection was made by the Royal Film Commission – Jordan. A completely independent selection committee made up of four members – Jordanian professionals and experts in the audio-visual field – selected this film. Being the country’s official submitting body for the Oscar, RFC organises the process and ensures complete independence.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will announce the shortlisted films for the 2025 Oscar on December 17, whereas the nominated films will be announced on January 17 of next year.
