Arts
Our host Jake Wiafe is in this episode guested by award-winning documentary filmmaker Christy Garland from Toronto, Canada - the director of the documentary feature film What Walaa Wants, which was nominated for 9 awards and won the Special Jury Prize at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Shot over five years, Christy Garland’s documentary is a classic coming-of-age story portraying Walaa from West Bank’s Balata Palestinian refugee camp. Walaa is determined to become one of the few women on the Palestinian Security Forces, and the film follows her as she changes from young troublemaker to focussed adult, navigating multiple obstacles and finally disproving the negative predictions from her surroundings - and the world at large.In this episode, Christy Garland unfolds the filming process in the Palestinian West Bank territory; how she first met Walaa and decided to follow her through pivotal life moments, police academy training, imprisonment, and return to the impoverished Balata refugee camp after becoming a trained police woman. She and Jake further discuss Christy's thoughts on being closely involved with the subjects of her films while following their unique journeys, her inspirations and wider views on documentary storytelling.What Walaa Wants, 2018, directed by Christy Garland, produced by Murmur Media, Final Cut for Real In Co-production with National Film Board of Canada. *Christy refers at one point to the documentary Titicut Follies from 1967 by Frederick Wiseman. Real Stories is available on Youtube and Facebook, and you can follow us on Twitter and Instagram too - and don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast, available on Spotify, Itunes, Player FM, and Acast. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy