The designing of the official poster for our Femme Filmmakers Festival might be a small part of our unfathomable prep work each year. But definitely an integral element of our event. Now in it’s 11th year, our annual celebration of ladies behind the camera (directors, writers, producers) has an distinctively varied flavour to last year. In it’s short film selections (revealed in a matter of days), the hard-working festival crew behind the scenes, and also – crucially – the times we are living in.
The 11th edition poster for the Femme Filmmakers Festival – in case you have not realised yet – features an iconic photograph of Hind Rajab. The tragedy and sorrow that the loss of this young girl represents is impossible to measure. We wanted to honour the name, the life, the family, and the whole world that surrounds this heartache. Hind signifies the worrying state of Palestine, the ridiculously high number of deaths – including children – that they have had to experience.
Of course, this is a film festival. And, along with our inclusion of The Voice of Hind Rajab as part of our communal celebration, the upsetting depths of our world stand side-by-side with the films we embrace. You will see some of the troubled climates that are represented in some of the films selected this year. Some curated, sure, but a select few of the short films carry these themes organically.
As for the design of the poster itself. I wanted Hind to be the star of the show. The voice of an angel in so many ways. The face of our carefully-crafted film festival. The noise grain layer is added to give the image a sense of documented life. A kind of textured exposure to fill us with nostalgia. The text had to be minimal – the title, the edition, the date, the website. A couple of diagonal lines to add subtle visual elements, implying motion.
But this is Hind’s poster. She forever bites her lip with that wry smile, looking at us, the tiara on her head. We commemorate so many losses while we live through these immersive films. It is indeed an honour. An early showing of the poster behind the scenes received the comment: “Looks like a missing child poster”. I took with the utmost compliment, even if this reality is riddled with a poignant truth.
Please email me if you would like a copy of the poster for your promotional purposes.
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