Christy Garland – What Walaa Wants #Berlinale2018

March 7, 2018

Christy Garland - What Walaa Wants #Berlinale2018 fredfilmradio

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PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Christy Garland, director of the film What Walaa Wants.

Documentarist Christy Garland finished editing What Walaa Wants in January 2018 after spending 6 years since 2012, following the life of Walaa Khaled Fawzy Tanji, a Palestinian girl whose dream was to be a policewoman in the Palestinian Security Forces . Christy met Walaa when she was 15 and followed her life for years to show her strength, her ability to break all the rules only to harshly learn, that sometimes there are some rules one needs to follow anyhow. At the 68th Berlinale where What Walaa Wants is premiering in the Generation section, Christy tells FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti how difficult it was for Walaa to be followed around for so much time and in every step of her life but the result was a sort of a diary where Walaa was able to see her change into a strong woman.

What Walaa Wants: 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 which to follow, and disproving the negative predictions from her surroundings and the world at large.

To discover more about the film, click here.

Written by: fredfilmradio

Berlinale 2018 Chiara Nicoletti Christy Garland Generation What Walaa Wants