Founded in 2020, the Amman International Film Festival - Awal Film’s distinctive edge is to focus on first-timers. This is the first international film festival of this scale to focus entirely on first-time achievements in filmmaking. International juries select the Best Arab Feature-Length Narrative, Best Arab Feature-Length Documentary, and Best Arab Short Film, while the audience chooses their favorite international debut film. All winning films receive cash awards for their categories. Strengths include an industry section (AFID) that is shining a better focus on new film projects and a continuing commitment.
A Sixth Edition in an Unscripted World: Supporting Arab filmmakers’ authentic and unfiltered voices, the festival’s latest edition opened in July 2025 under the theme “A World Unscripted,” presenting a lineup of 62 Arab and international films and featuring a special section dedicated to Irish cinema.
