The Palestinian Motor Sports and Motorcycle Federation has for over five years constructed provisional tracks around the major cities across the West Bank. Five women with the desire to live life on their own terms are now challenging the many male participants.
“Speed Sisters is the first all-women race car driving team in the Middle East. They're bold. They're fearless. And they're tearing up tracks all over Palestine,” explains Amber, who has decided to bring the women’s story to the screen.
The planned documentary will take you through “500 hours of footage, 20 races, dozens of checkpoints, five determined women and too many life threatening car rides to count,” assures its producer Jessica.
The film also deals with the many pressures on young women in society. “The Speed Sisters are doing something simple yet brave, they are resisting a political reality that diminishes their dreams and refuse to accept a life that is small and predictable,” explains Amber.
“When I am in a race and hit the gas all the pressure built up in me fades away,” explains Mona, one of the Speed Sisters.
“I want the whole world to know there is a girl called Marah Zahalqa who represents Palestine,” says Marah, the youngest member of the Speed Sisters, who also holds the title of “Fastest Woman in Palestine.”
“This story offers a disruption, and we all need stories that disrupt our expectations and preconceptions,” says Jessica. “Let’s start wide, Speed Sisters interrupt the media coverage that overwhelmingly focuses on male athletes and then there is the whole tangled mess of stereotypes of gender and agency in the Arab world, and let’s not forget the pressures of daily life in Occupied Palestine.”
“Speed Sisters is going to give you a fresh look at a part of the world you may think you are already familiar with. This film will take you on a wild ride,” concludes Amber.
By Christine Petré
