Award-winning short film ‘Tala’ Vision’ tells story of child’s plight in war zone

AMMAN — The Jordanian-German short film “Tala’ Vision” was shown on Tuesday night at a private screening, organised by the Royal Film Commission (RFC), in Amman. 

The film tells the story of an eight-year-old girl, Tala, who is trapped inside her home to avoid the dangerous Daesh-controlled streets in Syria. Her one glimpse into the outside world is a small television— until a Daesh law forces her father to get rid of it. 

It was the first Jordanian and Arab film to win a gold medal for Best Narrative Film at the 48th Students Academy Awards, also known as the Student Oscars, in the Foreign Narrative Film section. The award was announced in Los Angeles, the US, on October 21, according to a RFC statement. 

“I came across a newspaper article in 2014 about Daesh banning TVs,” Murad Abu Eisheh, film’s writer and director, told The Jordan Times at the event.

“I remember reading the article and thinking about the entire generation of children growing up with no view or understanding of the outside world,” he said.

“Later on, I was working on the Jordanian-Syrian border and I met this little girl who was crossing on her own… she was an orphan... I remembered her face and kept asking myself what her story could be,” Abu Eisheh added. 

The film, shot almost entirely from the eye-level of the girl, provides the audience with an intimate view into life in a war zone, from the innocent perspective of a young child.

Jude Kawwa, a Jordanian co-producer of the film, told The Jordan Times: “We feel that news outlets, when they cover war, it’s usually about casualties and destruction, but we never really talk about the long-term effects of trauma on children and how that affect an entire generation.”

Kawwa and Abu Eisheh, former classmates at German Jordanian University (GJU), worked with three other German producers on the film: Philipp Maurice Raube, Gabriel Waldvogel and Esther Busch. 

“What we wanted to do for the film is to really give an idea as to what war situations mean for the child,” Maurce Raube told The Jordan Times. 

The film aims to help viewers “understand people and their emotions and how they try to live their lives within a war zone”, Waldvogel added. 

Tala’s character was played by 10-year-old Aisha Balassem, who came to Jordan from Syria a few years ago. The role was Balassem’s first acting experience and she “loved everything” and hopes to continue, she told The Jordan Times at the event. 

RFC’s Managing Director Mohannad Al Bakri said in the RFC statement: “The success of Tala’Vision is a beautiful addition to the Jordanian film scene winning at the Students Academy Awards… We are proud of this achievement and it is a proof of the young Jordanian filmmakers’ potential and creativity.”

“I felt so supported by the local community,” said Kawwa, “No one worked with their full rates… everyone worked from their hearts for the project, putting all their energy and creativity into it.”

Any film that wins at the Students Academy Awards is automatically eligible for the Oscars, according to Abu Eisheh.

 “So, we submitted Tala’ Vision to compete in the short films category and we are full of hope,” Abu Eisheh said in the statement.