Theeb: Bedouin western that became a Oscar nominee

Theeb, in Arabic with a few scenes in English, is the first film from Jordan to be nominated for the best foreign language film Oscar

Few film-makers secure an Oscar nomination with their first feature. But director Naji Abu Nowar and producer Rupert Lloyd have hit the big time with their period drama Theeb. It's one of five films nominated at next Sunday's Oscars for best foreign language Film. It may appear an overnight success but it comes after almost 30 years of friendship.

When director Naji Abu Nowar and producer Rupert Lloyd collected their shared Bafta in London this month for outstanding debut, Nowar said on stage they'd been working together since they were five. In their mid-30s, they're about to head off to Hollywood with their first full-length film and clasping an Academy Award nomination.

Nowar, half-Jordanian, says that at Grey Coates School back in 1980s Oxford they weren't actually working on a film. "But our love of film did become evident very quickly. I went back to Jordan when I was 10 but whenever I was back in Oxford we'd be in and out of the cinemas. Theeb is the culmination of a long process: we made our first short in 2009, called Death of a Boxer."

Stunning scenery is one of Theeb's outstanding features

Theeb is in Arabic with a few scenes in English. It's the first film from Jordan to be nominated for the best foreign language film Oscar. It's set during World War One. The title character, aged 12, becomes disastrously involved in a British attempt to blow up a railway line constructed through the desert by the Ottoman Empire. The story takes place in what was then the Hijaz province and the film was shot in Jordan's Wadi Rum valley.

Reviews have commented on how impressive the film is on screen, which is remarkable given the budget was just under £500,000. Putting together the finance was Lloyd's job.

"Initially we got seed money from the Abu Dhabi Sanad fund, which supports development. It wasn't huge but it allowed us to live in the desert for a year. We did workshops and we learnt a lot about the Bedouin way of life, which is a big part of the story," says Lloyd.

"But for production funds we turned to private investors - mainly in Jordan but also from the Gulf and a little in the UK.

"Things change once you have a cut of the film to show people. We went looking for post-production money and secured it from the Doha Film Institute, the Sanad fund again, Visions Sud Est in Switzerland and the King Abdullah Fund for Development in Jordan. The hardest thing was probably getting the first couple of investors."

Despite the strong British connection, Theeb was nominated by Jordan as its submission to this year's Oscars. Rupert calls that a huge honour. "And to get from the 80 nominees to the final five was an incredible moment."

Director Naji Abu Nowar: 'We deliberately don't put up a card at the beginning of the film to tell people exactly where and when it's all taking place because above all Theeb is an adventure film'

While Lloyd was putting together the patchwork of funding, Nowar was developing the script. "We originally had our own concept - and then a screenplay for a short film, written by Bassel Khandour. But what really made the film come alive was sitting with the Bedouin in Wadi Rum and listening to their story-telling.

"The Bedouin elders talked a lot of the catastrophe that befell their culture around World War One. Partly it was the coming of the railway which took away their livelihood but also they were trapped in the conflict between the great powers more generally and the drawing of new national borders. The allies, including Britain, wanted to incite an Arab revolt to undermine the Ottoman Empire.

"A lot of this still relates to politics today. But we deliberately don't put up a card at the beginning of the film to tell people exactly where and when it's all taking place. Because above all Theeb is an adventure film."

Critics expressed surprise at how a film set in the Middle East a century ago so strongly evokes the feel of a Hollywood western. Nowar says it was no accident.

"Rupert and I decided we wanted to make a Bedouin western as long ago as 2003. It's like what Akira Kurosawa did with his samurai films: he took on the aesthetic of John Ford's cowboy films. I love the Kurosawa's work.

Filming Theeb in the harsh terrain of the Jordanian desert was a labour of love for the film-makers

"But the truth is if you have a concept you need to keep it a loose one. Because the choices you make during filming- and just the realities of filming somewhere like the Jordanian desert - always change things along the way."

Theeb is filled with tense and gripping sequences but there's one in particular which feels like a dramatic shoot-out in a western. The director says he was aware of the parallel: "But that kind of deadly ambush is also absolutely how it would work in Bedouin culture and we held true to that."

Many are assuming that the powerful Hungarian drama about the Holocaust, Son of Saul, is bound to take the foreign language Oscar. But whether Nowar and Lloyd win or not, Theeb has boosted their careers. Lloyd says the big moment was making it to the shortlist.

"It helps a lot in picking up more sales in new territories. But also it's the point where suddenly people know who you are and are interested in talking to you. The incredible Bafta win has pretty much changed our lives too."

Yet Nowar also admits he's ready to work on a new project. "I love Theeb massively but whatever happens in LA it will be time to move on. Rupert and I are working on English-language projects but we have another idea for Jordan as well. We want to return to the story of Theeb but 10 years later.

"So we're looking to work with new partners and new companies and it's very exciting. But the one thing I know is I would never make a film without Rupert."

Theeb was released in the UK last year but is now out on DVD.