Jon Stewart and Phaedra Dahdaleh. Courtesy Phaedra Dahdaleh
Jon Stewart and Phaedra Dahdaleh. Courtesy Phaedra Dahdaleh
Jon Stewart and Phaedra Dahdaleh. Courtesy Phaedra Dahdaleh
Jon Stewart and Phaedra Dahdaleh. Courtesy Phaedra Dahdaleh

Stewart 'trusted me, just like that, and it meant everything'


  • English
  • Arabic

Hala Khalaf talks to Phaedra Dahdaleh, the Jordanian costume designer on Jon Stewart's movie
After working as an on-set costumier, costume assistant and costume supervisor on almost every movie shot in Jordan in the past five years - whether local, regional or international - Phaedra Dahdaleh was more than ready to take the helm in ­wardrobe.
"I'd reached a point where I felt that, after being an assistant to some of the greats in costume and costume design, I could really do the entire job myself, as a professional," she says. "When Jon came to Jordan, he trusted me to do just that." 
The 32-year-old Jordanian describes landing the title of costume designer for Jon Stewart's directorial debut, Rosewater, which just wrapped up production in Jordan last month, as the "biggest opportunity" in her career so far.
Earlier this year, when Stewart made his first trip to Jordan to begin hiring his crew and scouting for locations, Dahdaleh landed an interview with the host of The Daily Show, based both on the recommendation of local producers and on her work in costume and wardrobe for movies such as Redacted (2007), Captain Abu Raed (2007), The Hurt Locker (2008), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and Incendies (2010), all of which were filmed in Jordan. 
"I was nervous meeting him, which is so funny to remember now because he's just the most amazing, friendly, down-to-earth kind of guy. He just got up, gave me a big hug and immediately made me feel at ease," she says.
When Dahdaleh confessed to Stewart that this would be her first big production flying solo as the head of costumes and as the costume designer, he wasn't fazed.
"He said to me: 'Don't worry about it, it's also my first big production.' He trusted me, just like that. It meant ­everything."
Creating costumes for Rosewater, which is set in Iran in 2009, involved a lot of research, says ­Dahdaleh.
"The most important thing about my job is to be fair and authentic and real, to the story and to Iran as a country. I can't have the characters wearing the wrong things; it has to seem like this film was really shot in Iran."
She read the script closely and had long conversations with Maziar Bahari, the BBC journalist who co-wrote the memoir that Rosewater is based on and who was present on the set from time to time, which helped form the basis of the vision for the characters' costumes. 
Some of the clothes were sourced from Phaedra's House of Costumes, Dahdaleh's five-year-old business born when she bought the costumes used on Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker after shooting wrapped in 2007.
That's what she does - she purchases the costumes that are no longer needed after a film wraps in Jordan and hunts for clothes from flea markets in the old city, or from donation piles of friends who sometimes have vintage treasures that they're not even aware of. "I bought a washer and dryer, learnt everything I could from anyone who comes to Jordan to work on a film and is willing to teach me, and now I rent out costumes to filmmakers and commercial directors who need to dress their characters when shooting in the country," she says.
Some of Rosewater's costumes had to be designed and made, such as the police uniforms, but most could either be sourced from Dahdaleh's costume house or shopped for.
She worked closely with Stewart and with the production designer Gerald Sullivan and the look for each character quickly began to form. 
"In choosing the costumes, it's really about feeling and understanding the character. It's not about making them look good; it's about making them look real. What would they wear, and why? It has to look that it really belongs to them," she says. "That's what's really beautiful and fun about the process."
Being part of Rosewater will hopefully open even bigger doors for Dahdaleh.
"Working with Jon was an experience I'm never going to forget. Not only was he a genuinely nice, supportive guy, but he was so encouraging of all the local talent we have in Jordan." 
hkhalaf@thenational.ae

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Paris%20Agreement
%3Cp%3EArticle%2014%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E1.%20%5BThe%20Cop%5D%20shall%20periodically%20take%20stock%20of%20the%20implementation%20of%20this%20Agreement%20to%20assess%20the%20collective%20progress%20towards%20achieving%20the%20purpose%20of%20this%20Agreement%20and%20its%20long-term%20goals%20(referred%20to%20as%20the%20%22global%20stocktake%22)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E2.%20%5BThe%20Cop%5D%20shall%20undertake%20its%20first%20global%20stocktake%20in%202023%20and%20every%20five%20years%20thereafter%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO

Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain

Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude

Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE

Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally

Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science

Day 4, Dubai Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Lahiru Gamage appeared to have been hard done by when he had his dismissal of Sami Aslam chalked off for a no-ball. Replays suggested he had not overstepped. No matter. Two balls later, the exact same combination – Gamage the bowler and Kusal Mendis at second slip – combined again to send Aslam back.

Stat of the day Haris Sohail took three wickets for one run in the only over he bowled, to end the Sri Lanka second innings in a hurry. That was as many as he had managed in total in his 10-year, 58-match first-class career to date. It was also the first time a bowler had taken three wickets having bowled just one over in an innings in Tests.

The verdict Just 119 more and with five wickets remaining seems like a perfectly attainable target for Pakistan. Factor in the fact the pitch is worn, is turning prodigiously, and that Sri Lanka’s seam bowlers have also been finding the strip to their liking, it is apparent the task is still a tough one. Still, though, thanks to Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed, it is possible.

The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets