BFFW 2018: The Judge

End your work week with this inspiring human being. Judge Kholoud Al-Faqih, the first female shari'a law judge, is helping women to understand their rights with the law.

THE JUDGE provides rare insight into Shari’a law, an often misunderstood legal framework for Muslims, told through the eyes of the first woman judge to be appointed to the Middle East’s religious courts. When she was a young lawyer, Kholoud Al-Faqih walked into the office of Palestine’s Chief Justice and announced she wanted to join the bench. He laughed at her. But just a few years later, Kholoud became the first woman judge in the Shari’a courts.

THE JUDGE offers a unique portrait of Kholoud—her brave journey as a lawyer, her tireless fight for justice for women, and her drop-in visits with clients, friends, and family. In the process, the film illuminates some of the universal conflicts in the domestic life of Palestine—custody of children, divorce, abuse—while offering an unvarnished look at life for women under Shari’a law.

Berlin Feminist Film Week is supported by Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Svenska ambassaden i Berlin and Mobile Kino