“Speed Sisters” is a documentary about the first all-female car racing team from… Palestine! The film covers the lives of five teammates Betty Saadeh, Mona Quraan, Noor Daoud, Marah Zahalka and captain Maysoon Jayyusi Al-Jariri featuring clips of the sport, and the tremendous complications from practicing their craft in basically a war zone.
Director Amber Fares (who’s Canadian-Lebanese) says that there has been a very positive reaction of her film from Palestinian and Arab audiences. Team-mate Marah Zahalka and her family are from a refugee camp in the West Bank, and at the end of the film, her family has saved up enough money to buy their own plot of land which elicits wild cheers from the Palestinian audience. “To Palestinians, the fact that Marah’s dad came from Jenin camp has a lot of symbolism,” says Ms. Fares. “To have a family like the Zahalkas come from what’s considered such a conservative town, that hit home with a lot of Palestinians.”
“Speed Sisters” is currently premiering in film festivals in the U.S. with release dates to be announced, so stay tuned.
