Meet the winners of the MAX Diversity Film Festival: Safia Kessas, director of “Henriette’s way”.
During the summer and autumn of 2021, the MAX Diversity Film Festival took place, a competition to create more spaces, both online and physical, to promote encounters among native-born citizens and newcomers to interact, share experiences and have joint debates. After 477 films submission from 82 countries were received, a selection of finalists by 10 international jurors, and a public voting procedure, on November 5th, during the MAX DFF Award ceremony were announced the winners of the Festival! Learn more about it here.
Today meet Safia Kessas, director of “Henriette’s way” winner of the Professional short film category!
Safia Kessas is a leading figure of the Belgian audiovisual industry: journalist, columnist, director, producer, her path has many ways and many-sided. She’s working to awaken consciousness, deconstruct gender neutrality, male gaze and the way women are represented. She created “Les Grenades”, a Belgian media which deciphers current events from a feminist point of view. Her mission is to creates new stories by giving voice to voiceless women.
Her movie, “Henriette’s way”, tells the story of Henriette, a young single mother, and an undocumented person who is a delegate of the collective of the voice of the undocumented. Every day, she fights with the support of her lawyer, Maitre Lurquin, to house undocumented families in the heart of Brussels. For her safety, Henriette had to separate from her partner and lost the possibility of obtaining a regularization. With her son, she now lives from move to move, wondering what future this childhood will offer her. In addition to the struggle for regularization and for a healthy home, there is also the struggle for the recognition of each person’s identity.
WATCH THE TRAILER AND THE MOVIE HERE!