Hostage movie Daniel filmed Jordanian visuals
Danish film Daniel used Jordan’s unique visuals as stand-ins for Syria to tell the true story of Danish photographer Daniel Rye and his experiences as an ISIS hostage.
By Nick Goundry 20 Feb 2019
Danish film Daniel used Jordan’s unique visuals as stand-ins for Syria to tell the true story of Danish photographer Daniel Rye and his experiences as an ISIS hostage.
Rye was held by the extremist organisation for nearly 400 days from mid-2013.
Copenhagen-based production company Toolbox Films has made the movie based on Rye’s experiences, adapting a book written by Danish journalist Puk Damsgard.
Producers Morten Kaufmann and Signe Leick considered doubling Morocco for Syria, Screen reports. Morocco is one of the world’s most popular stand-ins for Middle Eastern story settings and is usually on producers’ short lists.
Eventually, however, the pair chose Jordan as they decided the visuals were a more suitable stand-in for Syria and they had the advantage of working with Rula Nasser of Amman-based production company The Imaginarium Films.
Jordanian locations included a school in Zarqa near Amman and the northern city of Irbid.
The country offers a cash rebate as a filming incentive that is worth up to 20% of eligible local spending. Producers are required to allocate at least 20% of their overall budget to Jordanian spending to qualify and per-production support is capped at the equivalent of around $1.4m.
Jordan’s highest-profile recent shoots have been selected scenes for Star Wars: Episode IX at the end of last year and Disney’s upcoming live-action version of Aladdin. Denis Villeneuve’s new film adaptation of sci-fi epic Dune has also scheduled a Jordan shoot.
Producers almost always choose Jordan for its desert locations, while studio scenes are shot elsewhere in the world.
See KFTV's production guide for more on filming in Jordan.
Images: FreeImages.com/Gabor Palla/Cristiano Galbiati
Copenhagen-based production company Toolbox Films has made the movie based on Rye’s experiences, adapting a book written by Danish journalist Puk Damsgard.
Producers Morten Kaufmann and Signe Leick considered doubling Morocco for Syria, Screen reports. Morocco is one of the world’s most popular stand-ins for Middle Eastern story settings and is usually on producers’ short lists.
Eventually, however, the pair chose Jordan as they decided the visuals were a more suitable stand-in for Syria and they had the advantage of working with Rula Nasser of Amman-based production company The Imaginarium Films.
Jordanian locations included a school in Zarqa near Amman and the northern city of Irbid.
The country offers a cash rebate as a filming incentive that is worth up to 20% of eligible local spending. Producers are required to allocate at least 20% of their overall budget to Jordanian spending to qualify and per-production support is capped at the equivalent of around $1.4m.
Jordan’s highest-profile recent shoots have been selected scenes for Star Wars: Episode IX at the end of last year and Disney’s upcoming live-action version of Aladdin. Denis Villeneuve’s new film adaptation of sci-fi epic Dune has also scheduled a Jordan shoot.
Producers almost always choose Jordan for its desert locations, while studio scenes are shot elsewhere in the world.
See KFTV's production guide for more on filming in Jordan.
Images: FreeImages.com/Gabor Palla/Cristiano Galbiati
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