Everyday Activist - The Judge (CUFF.Docs 2017)

Posted on Thursday, November 16, 2017 at 10:00 AM

The Judge (CUFF.Docs 2017)

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

If Wonder Woman was a real person her name would be Kholoud Al-Faqih. Her fight for justice toward women within her community and against corruption in the face of a society that tends to ignore both makes her a superhero in my book. Not only does she manage a family as well as a fast paced career, but she takes time to mentor other professional women and does house calls to inform women about their rights. Director Erika Cohn with PBS Independent Lens delivers a fantastic film that shows what can happen when supportive men give women a chance to hold their own.

As a young lawyer and mother of four Kholoud told the Chief Justice that she was going to be a judge. He laughed at her, but like a good lawyer she successfully argued her case so that she was able to take the exams when the judge selection process came along. After passing she was able to design her own outfit for court; a perk reserved for Palestine’s first female judge. She quickly and efficiently starting hearing cases, but of course the story can't end there.

As the saying goes “let no good deed go unpunished”. The Chief Justice who allowed Kholoud to sit the exam conveniently lost his job right before the next set of judges were ready to take the exams. His replacement was a shady character who immediately made significant changes to the court system reducing the local judges to administrators as he sent their cases to the bigger centers. Kholoud successfully filed a complaint of corruption against him after he overturned her judgment leading to tragedy in the court room.

When the new chief justice comes in, Kholoud informs him that she's going to be a chief justice. I believe it. On top of being awesome, she has so much support from her husband who helps with domestic chores and her father who wants her to get into politics. Westerners often view of Islamic culture as repressive towards women, but consider Bangladesh, a country less than 50 years old, has had multiple female prime ministers, whereas Canada at 150 only had Kim Campbell and the US well over 200 years and no women leaders.

The Judge will play at the Globe Cinema on Sunday, November 19th, 2017 at 1:30 PM as part of the CUFF.Docs 2017 documentary film festival.