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Jordan recently pulled the documentary “My Sweet Land” as its official entry for the Oscars best international feature film race after receiving pressure from Azerbaijan, in a blatant case of a country bowing to censorship dictated by diplomacy.

“My Sweet Land” follows the life of an 11-year-old boy named Vrej who dreams of becoming a dentist in Artsakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within the Nagorno-Karabakh region of southwestern Azerbaijan. For three decades, the enclave has been at the center of an intermittent war that ended in 2023 with an Azerbaijani offensive that caused a mass exodus of the ethnic Armenian population.

The government of Azerbaijan now seems to want to erase all traces of their conflict with ethnic Armenians in the disputed region — and Jordan was apparently willing to comply with that. As “My Sweet Land’s” Jordanian-Armenian director Sareen Hairabedian tells Variety, “We don’t understand why Azerbaijan would be...

Updated with statement from Jordan’s Royal Film Commission, confirming details of this story: The Rfc writes to Deadline, “Jordan withdrew its submission of ‘My Sweet Land’ documentary film due to diplomatic pressures. The Royal Film Commission – Jordan (Rfc) remains committed to showcasing and promoting all Jordanian films, including their participation in film festivals.”

Previously: Exclusive: Jordan has withdrawn Sareen Hairabedian’s documentary My Sweet Land as its official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards, reportedly after coming under pressure from Azerbaijan, Deadline has learned.

The award-winning documentary follows 11-year-old Vrej, who dreams of becoming a dentist in his village in Artsakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been at the heart of a violent dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia since the 1980s. Artsakh fought for decades to become a breakaway state, an independence movement that ended with the Azerbaijani offensive of 2023.

The...

The International Documentary Association (IDA) has revealed which 20 feature-length and 20 short documentaries have made it onto the shortlists for the 40th IDA Documentary Awards.

Among the films that have a shot at becoming a nominee at the upcoming awards ceremony set to take place on December 5, 2024 at The Orpheum Theater in Downtown Los Angeles are major Best Documentary Feature contenders like “Sugarcane” and “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” as well as titles that have been harder to come by, like “Brisa” and “Kamay.”

As part of the announcement, Dominic Asmall Willsdon, IDA’s Executive Director, said via statement, “The 40th IDA Documentary Awards continues the tradition of celebrating the best of international nonfiction media of the year. We are grateful to all filmmakers who shared their work for consideration this year, representing a record amount of countries in the award’s history. The impressive shortlist for Best Features and Best...

Jordan has chosen the documentary film “My Sweet Land” to represent the country for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming Academy Awards. The film, directed by Sareen Hairabedian in her feature directorial debut, focuses on an 11-year-old boy named Vrej living in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

When violence erupts again in the long-running territorial conflict, Vrej and his family are forced to flee their home. Upon returning, they discover their house in ruins and Vrej’s hopes for a normal childhood destroyed.

Through Vrej’s story, the documentary explores the human costs of prolonged territorial disputes and the universal desire for peace. It highlights the resilience of people who have had their lives disrupted by conflict. The film, which premiered at the Sheffield Documentary Festival this year, brings sensitive attention to this complex issue. It allows viewers to connect personally with those impacted by the ongoing headlines.

Jordan has picked My Sweet Land, a documentary by director Sareen Hairabedian, to represent the country at the 97th Academy Awards next year in the best international feature film category.

The film follows Vrej, an 11-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a dentist. But Vrejj lives in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, the area at the center of a decades-long ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. When violence again erupts, Vrej and his family have to flee. They return to find their home, and Vrej’s dreams of a normal life, in ruins.

My Sweet Land premiered at the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival this year. It is Hairabedian’s debut feature, following her documentary short We Are Not Done Yet, made for HBO.

Jordanian filmmaker Azza Hourani produced My Sweet Land, which was set up as an Irish-French-Jordanian-u.S. co-production.

To date, Jordan has only one single Oscar nomination to its credit,...

Jordan has selected Sareen Hairabedian’s documentary My Sweet Land to represent it in the Best International Feature Film category of the 97th Academy Awards.

The documentary follows 11-year-old Vrej, who dreams of becoming a dentist in his village in Artsakh in the region Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been at the heart of a violent dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia since the 1980s.

When conflict erupts again, Vrej and his family flee, only to return to a devastated homeland after their people lost the war. As Vrej faces the new harsh realities and prepares for future battles, he wrestles with the weight of his hopes and trauma.

The film is New York-based Jordanian-Armenian director Hairabedian’s debut feature and follows her 40-minute doc We Are Not Done Yet for HBO documentary which won several awards.

The Sweet Land premiered at the Sheffield DocFest earlier this year ahead of playing a number...

The International Documentary Association (IDA) and Xrm Media have launched a new international fund to support short verité documentaries with an emphasis on emerging filmmakers.

The IDA+Xrm Media Incubator will provide three filmmakers with $25,000 each. In addition, Academy Award-nominated directors Skye Fitzgerald (“Hunger Ward”) and Smriti Mundhra (“St. Louis Superman”), and Emmy-nominated director Nadia Hallgren (“Becoming”) will be paired with the grantees as mentors.

Applications will open July 5 and close Aug. 2.

Simon Kilmurry, IDA’s executive director, said: “Xrm Media’s commitment to filmmakers aligns very well with IDA’s mission, and by joining forces we can ensure that filmmakers receive all the resources they need to make high-impact films.”

Michael Y. Chow, chief instigator at Xrm Media, added: “Xrm Media has long respected and valued what Simon Kilmurry and the entire IDA team have brought to the documentary filmmaking community and are thrilled to announce our partnership and...