Haifaa Al Mansour Wadjda

Although she lives in a conservative world wadjda is fun loving entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with.

Haifaa al mansour wadjda. In any other film you wouldn t register the fact that she s behind the wheel. She received backing from rotana the film production company of prince alwaleed bin talal. Haifaa al mansour is the first female filmmaker in saudi arabia and is regarded as one of the most significant cinematic figures in the kingdom. She spent most of the time trying to find financial backing and getting filming permission since she insisted on filming in saudi arabia for reasons of authenticity.

According to the director haifaa al mansour it took five years to make wadjda. She is from al zulfi but grew up in al hasa. Although she lives in a conservative world wadjda is fun loving entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. An inspiring and touching story about a 10 year old girl her mother and the lives of these characters within their society.

The town was the site of the battle of sabilla in 1929 when ibn saud decisively crushed the forces of the ikhwan. Haifaa al mansour s latest film the perfect candidate opens with a doctor in her 20s driving to work. Wadjda by violet lucca on august 26 2013 eschewing binaries of strong weak female characters outspoken radicalism and political passivity haifaa al mansour s debut feature presents a firm but understated social critique in the form of an endearing coming of age story. One of her favourite actors was jackie chan.

Directed and written by haifaa al mansour and starring waad mohammed in the title role wadjda was financed partly by rotana the production company of the saudi prince alwaleed bin talal and the. Synopsis wadjda is a 10 year old girl living in a suburb of riyadh the capital of saudi arabia. She finished her bachelor s degree in literature at the american university in cairo and completed a master s degree in directing and film studies from the university of sydney. Haifaa al mansour is the eighth out of twelve child of the poet abdul rahman mansour who introduced her to films by video there being no movie theaters in saudi arabia between 1983 and 2018.

Opens september 13 in new york la. Wadjda is an accurate portrayal of the situation of women in saudi arabia.