WHAT WALAA WANTS
Director: Christy Garland
Raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank while her mother was in prison, Walaa dreams of being a policewoman, wearing a uniform, avoiding marriage, and earning a salary. Despite discouragement from her family, even from her beloved brother Mohammed, Walaa applies - and gets in. But her own rebellious behavior and a complicated relationship with her mother are a challenge, as are the circumstances under which she lives.
Following Walaa from 15 to 21, with an intimate POV and the exuberant energy of its subject, this first-ever look inside the Palestinian police academy brings us the story of a young woman navigating formidable obstacles, learning which rules to break and follow, and disproving the
negative predictions from her surroundings and the world at large.
ConTACT
SALES AGENTS:
Autlook Filmsales
Contact: Salma Abdalla
Phone: +43 676 900 3771
Email: salma@autlookfilms.com
NFB/distribution
Contact: Nathalie Bourdon
Phone: +1 514-629- 5174
Email: distribution@nfb.ca
FESTIVALS:
Autlook Filmsales
Contact: Stephanie Fuchs
Phone: +43 720 34 69 34
Email: stephanie@autlookfilms.com
AWARDS
Special Jury Prize: HotDocs - Toronto, Canada
Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award - Margaret Mead Film Festival, NYC
Women in Film + TV Artistic Merit Award - Vancouver International Film Festival
Best Documentary Feature - Forest City Film Festival, London, Canada
Hilal Award for Best Film - Ajyal Film Festival, Doha, Qatar
Honours
Selected as TIFF’s TOP TEN Best Canadian Features 2018
Nominated for 3 Canadian Screen Awards (Best Doc Feature, Best Cinematography, Best Editing)
Nominated for the DGC Award (Director’s Guild of Canada) for Excellence in Documentary
FESTIVALS
Berlin International Film Festival 2018 - World Premiere
HotDocs - Toronto, Canada
Stronger than Fiction - Canberra, Australia
Melbourne International Film Festival - Melbourne, Australia
Sydney Palestinian Film Festival - Sydney, Australia
Marda Loop Justice Film Festival - Calgary, Canada
BMO World Film Festival - Hamilton, Canada
Gimli Film Festival - Gimli, Canada
Forest City Film Festival - London, Canada
International Women’s Film & Video Festival - St. John’s, Canada
Toronto Palestine Film Festival - Toronto, Canada
Vancouver International Film Festival - Vancouver, Canada
RIDM Montreal International Documentary Festival - Montreal, Canada
Edinburgh International Film Festival - Edinburgh, Scotland
Women Make Waves Film Festival - Taipei, Taiwan
Docfest München - Munich, Germany
Festival Ciné-Palestine Paris - Paris, France
Cork Film Festival - Cork, Ireland
Margaret Mead Film Festival - New York, USA
Boston Palestine Film Festival - Boston, USA
Arabisches Film Festival Tübingen - Tübingen, Germany
Der Neue Heimatfilm - Freistadt, Austria
IDFA - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ajyal Film Festival - Doha, Qatar
Göteborg Int. Film Festival – Gothenburg, Sweden
Aswan Int. Women’s Film Festival – Aswan, Egypt
ZagrebDox – Zagreb, Croatia
Tempo Doc Fest- Stockholm, Sweden
One World - Prague, Czech Republic
Arab Film Days – Oslo, Norway
Dubai REEL Palestine Film Festival - UAE
Justice Film Festival – Sarnia, Canada
Int’l Festival of Cartagena de Indias (FICCI) - Cartagena, Columbia
DocsBarcelona - Barcenlona, Spain
Magnificent 7 Festival - Belgrade, Serbia
Tempo Documentary Festival - Stockholm, Sweden
Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) - Seattle, USA
PRODUCTION FACTS
89' & 56' HD
Director: Christy Garland
Editors: Michael Aaglund, Graeme Ring
Editing Consultants: Molly Malene Stensgaard, Janus Billeskov Jansen
Producers: Anne Köhncke, Matt Code, Christy Garland
Producer for the National Film Board of Canada: Justine Pimlott
Executive Producers: Signe Byrge Sørensen, Anita Lee,
Waël Kabbani, Penny Charter
Composer: Tom Third
Sound Designer: Peter Schultz/Cosmo Tone
Colorist: Anders V. Christensen/Kong Gulerod Film
Post-Production Manager: Maria Kristensen
Production Co-ordinator: Ekram Zubaydi
Produced by: Murmur Media, Final Cut for Real
In Co-production with National Film Board of Canada
Produced in association with:
DOHA Film Institute
Ontario Media Development Corporation
Iambic Dream Films
DR
UR
Penny Charter
Supported by:
Danish Film Institute
Danish Foreign Ministry / DANIDA
Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund / Supported by The Oath Foundation
Toronto Arts Council