Wadjda (2012)
Country: SAU/GER/US/UAE/NL/JOR
Technical: col/1.78:1 98m
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Cast: Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Ahd
Synopsis:
A Saudi girl living with her mother constantly gets into trouble at her strict school for her non-conformist behaviour. However, her coveting of a bicycle to compete with the local boys in her own right leads her to enter the Koran recitation competition in the hope of securing the prize money.
Review:
An extraordinary glimpse into the mores of a fiercely traditionalist country, and the quiet rebellions that ultimately flare into Arab springs, this engrossing film is both neo-realist fable and political statement. The predicament of the mother, waiting for her husband to commit to her rather than succumb to family pressures and marry another woman who can bring him a son, runs poignantly alongside Wadjda's growing pains. The transgressive image of a girl riding a bicycle is full of meta-cinematic resonance, as the film's female director had to supervise shooting via walkie-talkie and from the back of a van.
Country: SAU/GER/US/UAE/NL/JOR
Technical: col/1.78:1 98m
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Cast: Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Ahd
Synopsis:
A Saudi girl living with her mother constantly gets into trouble at her strict school for her non-conformist behaviour. However, her coveting of a bicycle to compete with the local boys in her own right leads her to enter the Koran recitation competition in the hope of securing the prize money.
Review:
An extraordinary glimpse into the mores of a fiercely traditionalist country, and the quiet rebellions that ultimately flare into Arab springs, this engrossing film is both neo-realist fable and political statement. The predicament of the mother, waiting for her husband to commit to her rather than succumb to family pressures and marry another woman who can bring him a son, runs poignantly alongside Wadjda's growing pains. The transgressive image of a girl riding a bicycle is full of meta-cinematic resonance, as the film's female director had to supervise shooting via walkie-talkie and from the back of a van.
Country: SAU/GER/US/UAE/NL/JOR
Technical: col/1.78:1 98m
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Cast: Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Ahd
Synopsis:
A Saudi girl living with her mother constantly gets into trouble at her strict school for her non-conformist behaviour. However, her coveting of a bicycle to compete with the local boys in her own right leads her to enter the Koran recitation competition in the hope of securing the prize money.
Review:
An extraordinary glimpse into the mores of a fiercely traditionalist country, and the quiet rebellions that ultimately flare into Arab springs, this engrossing film is both neo-realist fable and political statement. The predicament of the mother, waiting for her husband to commit to her rather than succumb to family pressures and marry another woman who can bring him a son, runs poignantly alongside Wadjda's growing pains. The transgressive image of a girl riding a bicycle is full of meta-cinematic resonance, as the film's female director had to supervise shooting via walkie-talkie and from the back of a van.