The Poetess

Human Rights Competition
Stefanie Brockhaus
Andy Wolff
Germany
2017
90min
Arabic, English

Hissa Hilal is the voice from behind the veil. Her weapon is her word. Hissa is a self-taught writer and she says what she thinks. She decides to take part an Abu-Dhabi based TV show, “Million’s Poet”. It is the Arab world’s biggest poetry competition, and it is dominated by men, but Hissa becomes the first woman in the finals. In her poems she criticizes patriarchal society and attacks one of the most notorious Saudi clerics for his extremist fatwas, live, in front of 75 million viewers. Yet, we never see Hissa’s face; like the majority of Saudi women, she is covered from head to toe. How did she gain the knowledge and courage to step on stage and risk her life?

Projections: 
11.09. Friday 17:00
Trafó
English & Hungarian Subtitles
11.10. Saturday 19:00
Kino
English & Hungarian Subtitles
Producer: 
Andy Wolff
Camera: 
Tobias Tempel
Stefanie Brockhaus
Sound: 
Christoph von Schönburg
Music: 
Sebastian Zenke
Production info: 
Brockhaus/Wolff, ZDF, ARTE, HFF
Distribution info: 
CAT&Docs, Maelle Guenegues, 18 rue Quincampoix #133, F-75004 Paris, France, Telephone: +33144617748, maelle@catndocs.com
Festivals: 
Locarno International Film Festival 2017, Semaine de la Critique