About the program
HDI Cultural Diplomacy Program for Jordanian Documentarians
The Humpty Dumpty Institute, working with U.S. Embassy Amman jo.usembassy.gov identified and trained 12 young Jordanian filmmakers. The year-long program began in January of 2024 with the intent to strengthen Jordanian/American people-to-people relations and promote American values and ideals. After months of virtual classes conducted by award winning filmmaker Bill Megalos the group came to Los Angeles for a week of training at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Theater, Film and Television tft.ucla.edu followed by another week meeting studying with U.S. film professionals. Upon return, the filmmakers worked in teams of two to create short documentaries on climate change and disability issues. Bill Megalos then traveled to Jordan to help the participants edit their films and ready them for festivals. Meet the filmmakers and watch the trailers of the films here.
The Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI) is a 5011(c) 3 organization headquartered in New York City. HDI works around the world to inform and foster dialogue amongst critical stakeholders on key global issues. HDI does this through supporting cultural diplomacy, our programs with the U.S. Congress and the United Nations, engaging young people, and working on humanitarian programs. HDI was established in 1998 and has been in continuous existence for 25 years.
HDI works with U.S. Embassies and international cultural organizations worldwide to engage people through film, music, arts, and sports. HDI has successfully collaborated with more than 80 U.S. Embassies and Consulates to advance U.S. culture and values. Among our most successful programs is one designed for emerging filmmakers. Our filmmakers training program sponsored by U.S. Embassy Baghdad resulted in major festival success for two of the six short films that were produced by the Iraqi filmmakers under that grant. The first film, “Gift of My Father” won the Crystal Bear award in the short film category at the prestigious 2015 Berlin Film Festival. The second film “Kingdom of Garbage” received second prize in its category at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. In 2017, films made during HDI’s program for Pakistani filmmakers were shown at several international festivals.