Jordan recently pulled the documentary “My Sweet Land” as its official entry for the Oscars best international feature film race after receiving pressure from Azerbaijan, in a blatant case of a country bowing to censorship dictated by diplomacy.
“My Sweet Land” follows the life of an 11-year-old boy named Vrej who dreams of becoming a dentist in Artsakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within the Nagorno-Karabakh region of southwestern Azerbaijan. For three decades, the enclave has been at the center of an intermittent war that ended in 2023 with an Azerbaijani offensive that caused a mass exodus of the ethnic Armenian population.
The government of Azerbaijan now seems to want to erase all traces of their conflict with ethnic Armenians in the disputed region — and Jordan was apparently willing to comply with that. As “My Sweet Land’s” Jordanian-Armenian director Sareen Hairabedian tells Variety, “We don’t understand why Azerbaijan would be able to pressure a country like Jordan and control a narrative that is coming out of Jordan for this film to be stopped and silenced.”
Representatives for Jordan’s Oscars committee did not respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Below, Hairabedian and the doc’s Jordanian producer Azza Hourani further discuss their reaction to the country’s shocking about-face and some of the reasons behind it.
How did you find out that Jordan had pulled the film?
Sareen Hairabedian: I need to provide some context because we had also learned that the film had been banned in Jordan. But basically, I think the moment we heard about the film being withdrawn was when we got an email from the Academy. After learning that the film had been banned in Jordan — while at the same time it had also been put forth as the country’s Oscar candidate — we were working tirelessly to secure a qualifying theatrical run somewhere else, and that was going to be Armenia. We had planned it; it was set to happen. Then we got the email from the Academy saying that the submission had been withdrawn.
What was your reaction?
Hairabedian: That was like a slap to us. We got back in touch with the Royal Film Commission [which had partly funded the film, promoted it and submitted it as Jordan’s Oscar candidate] asking for explanations, because we were shocked. And the Royal Film Commission said that for the longest time they had been trying to work this out by trying to appeal the complaint [made to Jordan by the government of Azerbaijan]. And that they hadn’t mentioned it to us because they were confident that it would be resolved.
For people who don’t know what’s happening in that part of the world, can you provide some context?
Hairabedian: There is a larger political question that we are trying to understand as to why Azerbaijan would pressure Jordan. It’s one thing if Azerbaijan is pressuring Armenia – which doesn’t happen actually, since there isn’t that type of communication between them. But I think for us, from a diplomatic and from a political standpoint, we don’t understand why Azerbaijan would be able to pressure a country like Jordan and control a narrative that is coming out of Jordan for this film to be stopped and silenced. Obviously, after the Azerbaijani-Armenian war, Azerbaijan is forging ties with many regions. But as filmmakers, I think when we are asked these questions, I will always go back to the idea that besides the political climate of what’s happening, this is the silencing of a story that, at its core, is the human story of a boy trying to live his life without the threat of war and conflict. And to position this within the context of political gains or battles, or diplomatic affairs, is extremely unfortunate. And it’s extremely sad for us because this means that censorship and silencing can win.
Azza Hourani: Why would this film pose a threat to start with? The fact that this film is set in a region that’s contested between those two nations and the fact that it’s told from the Armenian side — and the fact that the name we use for the region is the Armenian name, Artsakh — poses a threat in itself. And, of course, any colonial territory would want to ban and silence stories that are coming from that space.
Just to provide some more context, you shot the doc in 2018, when things there were different. Right?
Hairabedian: We started researching in 2018 and filming a bit, and then, yes, we shot all the way to December 2022. And that’s when the nine-month blockade happened where Azerbaijan blocked the only route that connects Artsakh to Armenia. And by then there was no food, no fuel, no transportation, no access into the region. So we were not able to go back in. And then in September of 2023 is when they had their final military attack that led to the exodus of 100,000 plus Armenians out of the region.
What are the next steps for “My Sweet Land?”
Hairabedian: After being silenced and after fighting this and trying to appeal – which has been consuming our time and minds and all energies in the past month and a half – we are now focused on putting this film in the doc category [of the Oscars]. We want to continue to talk about this and continue to highlight Vrej’s story that is the story of so many other children whose struggles and fears are not being communicated, shared and felt by the world. So it’s very important for us that we’ve taken it into the doc category. Now we are doing our best, within a very short amount of time, to show it as much as we can. So from Doc NYC to having our theatrical run in L.A., and some other screenings around the world with different institutions, we are working to make sure that it’s going to go to [other] festivals and be seen all over the world.
“My Sweet Land,” which launched to positive reviews from Sheffield DocFest in June, will have its North American premiere in New York at DOC NYC on Nov. 16. It is also scheduled to have its Oscar-qualifying – for the Academy Awards best documentary feature category – U.S. theatrical release in Los Angeles starting Nov. 29.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
