Wadjda

Today, there is a rising number of cinemas in Saudi Arabia, but until 2018 the country imposed a cinema ban for over three decades, and local film production was minimal. The ban was in place when Wadjda was released in 2012, as the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, in addition to being the first directed by a woman, Haifaa Al Mansour.

At Arab Film Days 2022 you will have the opportunity to revisit Wadjda, a proper feel-good movie with women in all the main roles.

Our main character, Wadjda, is 10 years old and not especially interested in the norms and dress codes she is expected to follow. She likes American pop music, wears Converse sneakers and thinks it’s strange that girls can’t ride a bike like boys do. One day she discovers a green bike at the local toy store and knows she has to have it. She has no money, but she has an idea: She can buy the bike with the prize money if she wins her school’s Quran recitation competition.

Wadjda is a charming and engaging story about a girl that defies the rules of society by going her own ways. Wadjda is a heroine that is full of spirit, and main actress Waad Mohammed proves herself to be a real acting talent.

Director

Haifaa Al Mansour has studied literature in Cairo, and holds a master’s degree in directing from the University of Sydney. She is regarded as the first female director from Saudi Arabia. Since Wadjda she has had an active career as a director of American films and TV and her second Saudi Arabian feature, The Perfect Candidate, was released in 2019.

This film is part of