Behind the scenes on the set of ‘Jinn’ in Jordan. Courtesy Netflix
Behind the scenes on the set of ‘Jinn’ in Jordan. Courtesy Netflix
Behind the scenes on the set of ‘Jinn’ in Jordan. Courtesy Netflix
Behind the scenes on the set of ‘Jinn’ in Jordan. Courtesy Netflix

Director Amin Matalqa believes 'Jinn' could 'kick start more shows in the Middle East


Kaleem Aftab
  • English
  • Arabic

Amin Matalqa may have been working in Los Angeles for the better part of two decades, but the Jordanian-American filmmaker is still passionate about promoting the Middle East. 

That is exactly what he's doing via the supernatural show Jinn. "What an opportunity to work for Netflix doing something that could potentially kickstart more shows in the Middle East," says the Sundance award-winning writer and director, about writing the pilot for the new showand directing two of the five episodes. 

The new show, set in Amman, follows a group of high school students who unknowingly release the forces of a vengeful jinn in the form a teenage boy during a school trip to the ancient city of Petra. The idea for Jinn came from Lebanese director Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, best known for making thriller A Very Big Shot. When Jinn was first announced by Netflix in February 2018, the script was being written by Bassel Ghandour, who penned the Oscar-nominated Theeb. Also on board were executive producers Elan and Rajeev Dassani, the visual effects specialists behind hit US series Scandal and Justified.

The turnaround was tight, and when the team realised they needed more help, they made a call to Matalqa. "I had a week to rewrite the pilot," he says. "They had an outline that had come from eight months of working with other writers, which was the general gist of what they wanted. And so I cranked out 10 pages a day."

In an effort to maintain the authenticity of the vernacular of the characters and to work with the young cast, they wrote the script in English. "We then let the actors do their own interpretation of how they would say the lines in Arabic, on the set on the day," Matalqa says. "It makes it colloquial and the actors felt like they could own it."

The pilot took longer than expected to finish, so the decision was made to turn the show into a five-part series about two jinn who wreak havoc in a high school.

The filmmakers were up against the clock to get the show made for its scheduled release date, which falls on June 13. "I didn't see anything of episode two before I started shooting episode three," Matalqa says. This process was interesting to him, since his background is primarily in cinema. "I was curious how it would work out, to show up and not know how they would say things," he says. "I directed episodes three and four, I was getting pages the morning of the shoot, because they were behind on the writing and then Netflix would have to approve. It was very spontaneous."

Now Jinn is surfacing, Matalqa is intrigued by how audiences in the Middle East will react. A curse of creating groundbreaking shows that revolve around people underrepresented in media is that audiences want it to speak directly of their own experiences, which is simply not possible given the variety of cultures in the Arab world. 

"I've already seen the trolls commenting on the trailer. It's like, 'That is not how we talk!' It's going to be criticised, it doesn't get into religion at all and everyone wants to own Jinn as a concept and it's not clear," Matalqa says. "It will also be criticised for things that it wouldn't be criticised for in the US."

Though he was born in Jordan, Matalqa was raised in Ohio, and he has long specialised in making movies that bridge the gap between East and West. He worked in telecoms for five years, which he says, "only assured me how deep my love for movies and storytelling is".

He went to Ohio State University to study cinema but the school scrapped the department and he ended up studying theatre for six months. Matalqa then moved to LA, bought a camera, a sound kit and lights, and began making friends in coffee shops, asking people questions such as: "I'm writing a short film, do you want to act in it?" He made one short a month until he was accepted into the prestigious American Film Institute. During the two years he spent there, he raised money for his debut film Captain Abu Raed

Amin Matalqa directed two of five episodes Randy Quan for The National
Amin Matalqa directed two of five episodes Randy Quan for The National

He went to Ohio State University to study cinema but the school scrapped the department and he ended up studying theatre for six months. Matalqa then moved to LA, bought a camera, a sound kit and lights, and began making friends in coffee shops, asking people questions such as: "I'm writing a short film, do you want to act in it?" He made one short a month until he was accepted into the prestigious American Film Institute. During the two years he spent there, he raised money for his debut film Captain Abu Raed

Set in Amman, it tells the story of an elderly airport caretaker who local kids believe is a glamorous international pilot. Nadim Sawalha won the Best Actor Award at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2007 for his performance, with the film winning the Audience Award in the World Cinema competition at the Sundance Film Festival a year later. Suddenly, Matalqa was the first port of call for US studios that wanted to expand into the Middle East, particularly when productions, such as Jinn, were being shot in Jordan.

It wasn't a big challenge to shoot the drama, but there were some things we did in VFX that were fun, such as disappearing characters and some stunts," he says. "It was different from anything that I had done before.

Disney asked the director to work on football film The United in 2011, but Matalqa admits it was "a difficult production"

. "It was made during the Arab uprisings and Farouk Al Fichawy, the lead actor, was a difficult person to work with," he says. "Disney was very uncertain about what the status of Disney International was going to be, so the status of the movie was in limbo. It was not fun to make the movie."

In 2014, he made comedy Strangely in Love, which was shot in 15 days, while his Middle East goose-chase drama The Rendezvous was another difficult production, with his wife dying while the film was being made.

“Filmmaking never gets easier,” he says. 

As for his latest cinema outing, Matalqa says: "You're always learning". "It wasn't a big challenge to shoot the drama, but there were some things we did in VFX that were fun, such as disappearing characters and some stunts," he says. "It was different from anything that I had done before."

Jinn is on Netflix from today

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The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
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6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
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  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
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  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Takreem Awards winners 2021

Corporate Leadership: Carl Bistany (Lebanon)

Cultural Excellence: Hoor Al Qasimi (UAE)

Environmental Development and Sustainability: Bkerzay (Lebanon)

Environmental Development and Sustainability: Raya Ani (Iraq)

Humanitarian and Civic Services: Women’s Programs Association (Lebanon)

Humanitarian and Civic Services: Osamah Al Thini (Libya)

Excellence in Education: World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) (Qatar)

Outstanding Arab Woman: Balghis Badri (Sudan)

Scientific and Technological Achievement: Mohamed Slim Alouini (KSA)

Young Entrepreneur: Omar Itani (Lebanon)

Lifetime Achievement: Suad Al Amiry (Palestine)

The stats

Ship name: MSC Bellissima

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Delivery date: February 27, 2019

Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT

Passenger capacity: 5,686

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Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

The drill

Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.

Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”

Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”

Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.” 

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If you go

Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.

Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com

A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com

BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

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What is the FNC?

The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning. 
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. 
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

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May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final

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Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
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When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
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Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

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Graduated from the American University of Sharjah

She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters

Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks

Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding

 

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Gender pay parity on track in the UAE

The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.

"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."

Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.

"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.

As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general. 

While you're here
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Real Madrid 2

Vinicius Junior (71') Mariano (90 2')

Barcelona 0

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