Wadjda
Wadjda, a young Saudi Arabian girl, challenges her country's conservative traditions by facing off against her neighbour in a bike race. With bike-riding frowned upon for Saudi girls (it is also illegal for women to vote or drive), her mother refuses to buy it for her, so Wadjda finds other ways of getting the money. This is the first feature to be directed both entirely in Saudi Arabia and by a Saudi woman (Haifaa Al Monsour), no small feat for a country that banned cinemas for over 30 years.
- Director:
- Haifaa Al-Mansour (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Haifaa Al-Mansour
- Cast:
- Reem AbdullahWaad MohammedAbdullrahman Al GohaniRafa Al SaneaSultan Al AssafDana AbdullilahRehab Ahmed
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Adam Fresco
flicksNot many feature films have been made in Saudi Arabia. Even more remarkable in a patriarchal, totalitarian society is Wadjda, the first Saudi film to be scripted and directed by a woman, Haifaa Al-Mansour. It’s a simple tale, boldly shot and simply told. Young Wadjda dreams of getting a bicycle and racing her best friend, Abdullah. No big deal for us, but for a girl in Riyadh, riding a bike and associating with boys are immoral acts.
I want to ride my bicycle
The plot is: child wants a toy, what lengths will she go to, to get it. Which might be boring except that Wadjda is charming, inventive and stubborn; and the child in us wants her to succeed in getting a bike of her own, so she can race the boy next door. Actually everyone in this film wants something, as gradually becomes clear as we over hear Wadjda's...
Variety
pressAl Mansour captures the isolation of Saudi women and their parallel lives of freedom at home and invisibility outside.
Total Film
pressAl-Mansour carefully dodges easy uplift, but her message of hope to future generations of Saudi women is clear.
The New York Times
pressFinds room to maneuver between harsh realism and a more hopeful kind of storytelling. There is warmth as well as austerity.
The Dissolve
pressAn object of stark beauty, an oasis of free-spirited cinema emerging from the desert.
Flicks, Adam Fresco
flicksNot many feature films have been made in Saudi Arabia. Even more remarkable in a patriarchal, totalitarian society is Wadjda, the first Saudi film to be scripted and directed by a woman, Haifaa Al-Mansour. It’s a simple tale, boldly shot and simply told. Young Wadjda dreams of getting a bicycle and racing her best friend, Abdullah. No big deal for us, but for a girl in Riyadh, riding a bike and associating with boys are immoral acts.
Variety
pressAl Mansour captures the isolation of Saudi women and their parallel lives of freedom at home and invisibility outside.
Total Film
pressAl-Mansour carefully dodges easy uplift, but her message of hope to future generations of Saudi women is clear.
The New York Times
pressFinds room to maneuver between harsh realism and a more hopeful kind of storytelling. There is warmth as well as austerity.
The Dissolve
pressAn object of stark beauty, an oasis of free-spirited cinema emerging from the desert.
I want to ride my bicycle
The plot is: child wants a toy, what lengths will she go to, to get it. Which might be boring except that Wadjda is charming, inventive and stubborn; and the child in us wants her to succeed in getting a bike of her own, so she can race the boy next door. Actually everyone in this film wants something, as gradually becomes clear as we over hear Wadjda's...
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