Bedouin coming-of-age drama vying for Oscar nod

AL-SHAKRIYEH, Jordan (AP) — A coming-of-age drama set among Bedouin tribesmen roaming the desert is the first Oscar contender produced by Jordan's nascent film industry.

Billed as a "Bedouin Western" and an authentic portrayal of Bedouin culture, Theeb is one of five movies nominated for best foreign language film.

For the amateur cast from a Bedouin clan and for two young Jordanians writing and directing their first feature film, making Theeb has already been a wild ride, climaxing in the 2014 world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

"The Bedouins, it's a very macho culture, and you never see anyone cry, even the children ... and to see tears coming out of some of their eyes (during the premiere) was a really powerful moment," he said, speaking from the Palm Springs International Film Festival, a last pre-Oscar opportunity to promote foreign films.

The actors have since resumed their lives in al-Shakriyeh, a small Bedouin village nestled among striking rock formations rising from the desert floor of Wadi Rum, a protected landscape just north of the Red Sea and one of Jordan's main tourist attractions.

Since Theeb, he has appeared in a German TV documentary about Wadi Rum and a Jordanian tourism commercial, and said he would like to do more acting.

Bedouin lifestyles in the area have changed dramatically in the last few decades, with nomads settling down, trading their camels for pickup trucks and living off tourists instead of goat herds.