Origin: Egypt, Palestine, Norway, France | Documentary | Director: Samaher Alqadi | 88 minutes

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Cairo, January 2013: A mass wave of sexual assaults take place in Tahrir Square, with 80 incidents reported in a single day. In response, an outpour of women take over the streets. Not knowing where it would lead her, director Samaher Alqadi picks up her camera as a form of protection. With that, she starts an 8-year journey capturing the spectacular strength of a women's rebellion clashing with structurally immersed patriarchy. When Alqadi becomes pregnant during filming, a personal journey begins, where she re-examines her own childhood in Palestine, what it means to be a woman and a mother. Her imaginary conversation with her late mother forms words left unsaid, sharing her deepest secrets in an intimate inner voice. As I Want is as personally deep, as it is publicly explosive, putting urgent women's voices at the fore. This feature debut premiered at Berlinale's Encounters 2021 and marks Alqadi as a bold and necessary voice in documentary.

The Palestinian filmmaker and screenwriter was born one of nine children and grew up in the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. She first worked for the Palestinian Ministry of Culture before being accepted into the Egyptian Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo. An emerging voice in Arabic documentary, her films focus on the evolving status of women and dissident artists in the Middle East. As I Want is her first feature-length documentary.

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