Wadjda

At a glance

Wadjda, is a 2012 Saudi movie, directed by Haifaa al-Mansour, and starring Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Abdullrahman Algohani, with a runtime of 98 minutes. Content rating: PG.

Overview

Wadjda is a landmark 2012 Saudi Arabian drama film directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour — the first feature film shot entirely on location inside Saudi Arabia. At its heart is Wadjda, a spirited and resourceful young girl growing up in a Riyadh suburb who wants nothing more than a green bicycle so she can race her friend Abdullah. When her family cannot afford it, she enters her school's Quran recitation competition to raise the money herself. What unfolds is a quietly radical film that uses a child's simple wish to illuminate the social constraints placed on girls and women in Saudi society, doing so without polemic — through Wadjda's irrepressible energy and matter-of-fact determination. A celebrated work of Arabic cinema, warmly human and politically resonant.

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