Jordanian Documentary ‘Concrete Land’ Wins at London Film Festival

Jordanian documentary “Concrete Land,” the directorial debut of Asmahan Bkerat, has won an award at the 70th London Film Festival, where documentaries claimed two of the four main prizes.

The results marked a surprise showing for nonfiction cinema, with Bkerat’s first film sharing the spotlight with a work by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa.

Loznitsa’s “Imperium” took the festival’s official competition prize. The documentary draws entirely on archival material from the former Soviet Union, without reconstructing the events it depicts.

“Concrete Land” secured another of the main awards, bringing festival recognition to Bkerat at the start of her directing career. The award category was not specified in the supplied results.

Together, the two wins placed documentaries at the centre of this year’s awards, with a Jordanian debut recognised alongside a film built wholly from historical footage.