Filmmaker with Jordanian roots airs feature at US Sundance festival

AMMAN — On Monday, “Luxor” by filmmaker Zeina Durra had its international premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, which kicked off on Thursday in Salt Lake City, Utah, US.

Durra was born in London in 1976 to a Bosnian-Palestinian mother and Jordanian-Lebanese father.

The film stars English actress Andrea Riseborough and is produced by Egyptian Mohamed Hefzy, according to the festival website.

Luxor details the “romance post-trauma” between a doctor and an archaeologist in Luxor, Egypt. Hana, played by Riseborough, is “seeking mental peace and physical respite after an overwhelming period spent working at a clinic in Ramtha on the Jordanian-Syrian border, where she specialised in treating victims wounded in the war in Syria”, the festival’s website reads, adding that when Hana unexpectedly runs into her former lover Sultan, “the chemistry is undeniable”.

The Royal Jordanian Film Commission wished the filmmaker the “best of luck” in the competition on its Facebook page. 

Her debut film, “The Imperialists Are Still Alive!”, also premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2010 in the US Dramatic Competition. 

Luxor is being shown five times at the Sundance Film Festival, which is the largest independent film festival in the US and will conclude this year on February 2.