The Judge

description

When 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 would prove him wrong.

THE JUDGE provides rare insight into Shari’a law, an often misunderstood legal framework for Muslims, told through the courageous journey of the first female judge to be appointed to the Middle East’s religious courts. 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.

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Toronto International Film Festival 2017

DIRECTOR'S BIO
Erika Cohn is an American filmmaker who studied film production, Middle Eastern studies, and acting performance at the Chapman University of California and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is the director of the short film When the Voices Fade (10), which received a Director's Guild of America Award, and the feature In Football We Trust (15). The Judge (17) is her latest film.