WHAT WALAA WANTS

A tomboy in a hijab joins the police academy in this Palestinian coming-of-age story.

Rebellious and brazen Palestinian teen Walaa isn’t interested in settling down, marrying young and having children. Raised in a refugee camp on the West Bank while her mother was imprisoned in Israel for assisting a failed suicide bomber, Walaa instead wants to become one of the only female police officers with the Palestinian National Authority. Against the advice of her family, she applies and is accepted. But her disobedient, wisecracking attitude causes friction, and the training is not quite what she imagined.

Canadian documentarian Christy Garland filmed Walaa over six years from the age of 15 to 21, gaining rare access to film inside the Palestinian Security Forces during Walaa’s training. In What Walaa Wants we watch a temperamental teen mature and show the people around her what is possible.

"A classic coming-of-age story with a girl-power message." – Variety