The Poetess

THE POETESS

The Saudi poetess Hissa Hilal made headlines around the world as the first woman to ever make it to the finals of “Million’s Poet”, an Abu-Dhabi based Million Dollar reality television show. It is the Arab world’s biggest poetry competition, and it is dominated by men. In her poems Hissa criticizes the patriarchal Arab society and she attacks one of the most notorious Saudi clerics for his extremist fatwas, live, in front of 75 million viewers. 

Hissa Hilal is the voice from behind the veil: Her word is her weapon. We’ll never see Hissa’s face. Like the majority of Saudi women, Hissa is covered from head to toe. She is not allowed to drive a car. She doesn’t own a passport. And she requires consent from her husband for any sort of activity. But then, coming out of nowhere, Hissa is suddenly breaking news in the biggest Western and Arab media. How did she gain the knowledge and the courage to step on stage and risk her life?

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Info

Category | Arts & Culture, Current Affairs, Human Rights, Politics, Religion, Social Issues, Women
Year | 2017
Country | Germany, Saudi Arabia
Running time  | 88’&52’
Subtitles  | English and French subtitled versions available
Format | HD
Production | Brockhaus/Wolff Films GbR
Director | Stefanie Brockhaus, Andreas Wolff

FESTIVALS:
* All About Freedom Gdansk (Poland)
* IDFA (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
* Zurich Human Rights Film Festival (Switzerland)
* DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival (Finland)
* Stockholm Feminist Film Festival (Sweden)
* One World International Film Festival (Czech Republic)
* CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, Denmark)
* One World Romania (Bucharest, Romania)
* Millenium International Documentary Film Festival (Belgium)
* Middle East Now Festival (Firenze, Italy)
* Bolzano Film Festival Bozen (Italy)
* Millenium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival (Warszawa, Poland)
* Sydney Film Festival (Australia)
* Esperanzah! (Floreffe, Belgium)
* Festivaletteratura (Camposampiero, Italy)
* Salé Women Film Festival
* San Francisco Arab Film Festival
* Verzio Film Festival (Budapest, Hungary)
* La Mostra de CineBaix (Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona), Spain)
* DocHouse London (UK)
* Movies that Matter Foundation (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
* The British Museum (London, UK)
* Kitzbühel Filmfestival (Austria)
* Marda Loop Justice Film Festival (Calgary, Canada)
* Meeting per l’amicizia fra i Popoli (Rimini, Italy)
* European Union Human Rights Film Festival (Ankara, Turkey)
* One World Slovakia (Bratislava, Slovak Republic)
* Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival (Canada)
* Cinema Akil (Dubai, UAE)
* Docs Against Gravity Film Festival (Poland)
* London Human Rights Watch Film Festival (UK)
* Locarno Semaine de la Critique 2017
*Docaviv (Tel Aviv, Israel)
* DOK Leipzig (Germany)
* Dubai International Film Festival (UAE)
* São Paulo International Film Festival (Brazil)
* Terre de Femmes – FrauenWelten Filmfest (Tübingen, Germany)
* Zurich Human Rights Film Festival (Switzerland)
* All About Freedom Gdansk (Poland)

Press

Contact

For festivals inquiries, screenings and world sales:
maelle [at] catndocs.com

Press related inquiries:
info [at] andywolff.com
sbrockhaus [at] stefaniebrockhaus.com