The award-winning filmmaker Christy Garland discusses her new documentary What Walaa Wants, that screens at the Vancouver International Film Festival (Monday, 01 October 2018 at 10.30am, and Wednesday, 03 October 2018 at 9.15pm), with Joseph Planta.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

A film screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival this morning and Wednesday night is What Walaa Wants. Its director Christy Garland joins me now to talk about her film that premiered at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival, and won a Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs 2018. The film is about a girl named Walaa, who has grown up in the West Bank, while her mother was in prison. Walaa dreams of being an officer in the Palestinian Security Forces, despite not being encouraged by her family. Her rebellious streak does get the better of her as she navigates her relationship with her released mother, members of her family, as well as the people at the PSF training facility. It’s a compelling film that I’ll get Ms. Garland to tell us about. Christy Garland is an award-winning filmmaker who has made documentary features and fiction shorts. Her first feature-length documentary The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song was released in 2016. She joined me from Toronto last week. The Twitter handle is at @ChristyGarland. Visit www.viff.org for tickets and information. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Christy Garland; Ms. Garland, good morning.

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