WATERPROOF

Aishe, Khawla and Rehab are ladies who have come to make a change. They repair leakages, clean water tanks and show housewives how to handle water properly – in Jordan, one of the driest countries on earth.

Aishe, after losing her husband, was trained by self-assigned first female plumber of Jordan, Khawla Al-Sheikh, in order to be able to solely provide for her three children. They have been working together in Khawla’s NGO for female plumbers since, and they have become close friends. As Aishe’s 40th birthday is approaching, she shares her dreams of self-realization with Khawla who encourages her to set a goal and go for it. Khawla herself seemingly accomplished everything – until she has to stand trial due to corruption allegations. The reputation of the plumbers organization is suffering as well as Aishe’s and Khawla’s friendship.

Aishe is still determined to earn her living with plumbing. She drums up her own business by taking on jobs in her village and slowly becoming independent. When Khawla needs Aishe to testify for her in court, Aishe is not sure what to do – be loyal to her best friend or focus on her own business?

Daniela König was born 1990 in the German town Goerlitz after her mother emigrated from the former USSR to the GDR in 1985. She gathered her first experiences in film searching for and video-interviewing concentration camp survivor and author Kurt Wolff in High School. 2010 she started studying Media Design at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. In 2013 she received the Bauhaus Institute’s Film Fund Prize for PEACE TO THOSE WHO TRY, a 62 minutes web documentary she filmed in Israel and Palestine. Later she starts to travel to Jordan frequently in order to realize photo series and video reportages for magazines. She is assigned by UN Women to document the lives of Syrian women providing their families in the refugee camp Zaatari. End of 2016 she traveled to Greece to film for MISSION WAREHOUSE about the business big NGOs are making with the refugee crisis on the island of Lesbos. She started regularly filming for her first feature length documentary WATERPROOF in 2016 which won the EWA Development Award in 2017 for best female driven documentary at DOK Leipzig. Next to filmmaking she works as a self-defense and martial arts trainer for women.

Writer & Director
Daniela König

Producer
Stefan Kloos & Michaela Pňačeková

Cinematography
Patrick Richter

Editor
Alex Bakri

Music
Basel Naouri

Sound
Manja Ebert
Claudia Leder

Production Manager
Bianca Laschalt

Assistant Director
Asmahan Bkerat

Sound Design & Re-Recording Mixing
Tobias Adam

Colour Grading
Kay Dombrowsky

Production
Kloos & Co. Ost / Kloos & Co. Medien

World Sales
Rise and Shine World Sales

Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung
Kuratorium junger deutscher Film
Creative Europe Programme – MEDIA of the European Union
EWA – European Women’s Audiovisual Network

Dok Leipzig Co-Pro Market 2017
EWA Network Development Prize

World Premiere
DOK Leipzig 2019, Germany

International Premiere
IDFA – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2019, The Netherlands

Further Festivals
Tempo Documentary Festival Stockholm 2020, Sweden
Stockholm Feminist Film Festival 2020, Sweden
Arab Film Days Oslo 2020, Norway