Jordan makes no secret of which film it wants to see sweep this year's Oscars - Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker.
Filmed in Jordan, any achievements notched up by Kathryn Bigelow's production at tomorrow's 82nd annual Academy Awards will reflect positively on the tiny desert kingdom, industry officials believe.
"The success of any movie filmed in Jordan ... is always a plus for our kingdom, for its economy, for its tourism as well as for its budding film industry," Princess Rym Ali, a senior member of the Royal Film Commission told AFP.
"Foreign films are a valuable learning opportunity for budding filmmakers ... it's a learning experience for those who come from outside to film in Jordan and plays an important role in helping foreigners get to know our people, the Middle East and appreciate who we are," she said in an interview.
Bigelow's movie was filmed in the capital Amman and other cities including Madaba which is known for its ancient mosaics, and impoverished Zarqa, home town of slain Al-Qaeda frontman in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
The critically acclaimed Hurt Locker, about a US army bomb disposal unit in Baghdad, has emerged as a clear favourite after winning a string of awards ahead of today's Oscars ceremony.
It is nominated for nine golden statuettes.
Princess Rym, a former CNN correspondent in Baghdad who is married to Prince Ali, a half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah, said more films are expected to be filmed in Jordan, following the commercial success of The Hurt Locker.
"There are some productions planned, others are waiting to obtain funds for their films, still others are approaching us as we speak and have asked to visit Jordan," she said.
"So of course we always hope to attract more films but we also aim to expose our young filmmakers and see them do films here in Jordan. And we hope to see more Jordanians and Arab filmmakers using our country for their films."
Jordan is endowed with stunning natural beauty and has served as a backdrop for several Hollywood films, including David Lean's award-winning epic Lawrence of Arabia in 1962.
The centuries-old rose-red city of Petra in southern Jordan was portrayed in Steven Spielberg's 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
More recent movies film in Jordan include Brian de Palma's 2007 Redacted and Nick Broomfield's Battle for Haditha in 2007.
Rym said Bigelow, who is widely expected to become the first woman in Oscars history to win the best director prize for her work on The Hurt Locker, enjoyed her time in Jordan.
She quoted Bigelow as saying that "she loved her experience in Jordan as everybody was helpful," and that "she would love to go back and do another production there".
"I think mostly what we've been praised for in Jordan, is our high level of professionalism as well as the fact the bureaucratic hassles are reduced to a minimum," said Rym.