What Walaa Wants

Generation 14plus 2018

‘Working in the security apparatus is great.’ · ‘And I’ll get a licensed gun. How else do you enforce authority?’ · ‘Once she goes through training, she’ll completely change her way of thinking.’

Having grown up in a refugee camp while her mother was incarcerated in an Israeli prison, Walaa doesn’t want to marry young and start having children, nor is she much interested in school. She’d rather be a police officer, with the Palestinian National Authority, the body governing the Palestinian territories. The documentary follows this defiant and resilient young woman over the course of over five years, from age 15 to 21. Always maintaining a level playing field with her young protagonist, Christy Garland gives an intimate look at the rebellious girl fighting at times uncontrollably but tenaciously for her dream.

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by Christy Garland (Director) Canada / Denmark 2018 Arabic 89' Colour World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Director	Christy Garland
Cinematography	Christy Garland, Hanna Abu Saada
Editing	Michael Aaglund, Graeme Ring
Music	Tom Third
Sound Design	Peter Schultz
Production Management	Ekram Salama Zubaydi, Maria Kristensen
Executive Producers	Signe Byrge Sørensen, Anita Lee, Wael Kabbani, Penny Charter
Producers	Anne Köhncke, Matt Code, Christy Garland, Justine Pimlott

World Sales

Autlook Filmsales

Produced by

Murmur Media Inc

Final Cut for Real

National Film Board of Canada

Additional information

additional sales:

National Film Board of Canada
Toronto, Kanada
+1 514 9950095
N.Bourdon@nfb.ca

Photos

Christy Garland

A director of award-winning documentaries and short films, she lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Her films have been distributed worldwide and are characterised by ingenious dramatic structures, gripping character development and universally felt themes. The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song was compared by the press to the work of Robert Bresson and the Dardenne brothers.

Filmography

1998 Blind Spot; short film 1999 Dear Mr. Newton; short film · These Goods Are Manufactured 2000 Dual Citizen; short film 2008 Doormat; co-director: Susan Armstrong 2012 The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song 2016 Cheer Up 2018 What Walaa Wants

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018