Review of Captain Abu Raed (2008) by Jamie N — 12 Feb 2008

My favorite film of Sundance.

This is the first major feature from director Amin Matalqa and the first movie out of Jordan in at least fifty years.

Abu Raed, an old widower, works as a janitor at the Amman airport. He discovers a captainâ??s hat in a garbage can and takes it home with him. As he walks up to his house, a young neighborhood boy, Tarek, sees the captainâ??s hat Abu Raed carries and mistakes him for an airplane pilot. Abu Raed attempts to correct the young boy insisting that he is not, in fact, a captain. Tarek refuses to be dissuaded and tells all his friends that a captain lives in their poor neighborhood. Abu Raed finally relents, puts on his captainâ??s hat, and tells the young children of his fictitious adventures around the world.

Not every child is enamored with Abu Raedâ??s tales. Murad, who lives next door to Abu Raed and whose father beats him and his mother nearly every night, decrys Abu Raed as a liar and sets out to prove that heâ??s a janitor.

As Abu Raed becomes more involved in the lives of Tarek and Murad, he rediscovers a joy that he lost when his son and wife passed away.

By far, Captain Abu Raed was my favorite film of the festival. I really hope it gets picked up for wider distribution. Itâ??s such a powerful and moving film, it must be experienced by audiences everywhere. This is an absolute MUST SEE.