Wadjda
A winning, handsomely crafted story with a charismatic lead guaranteed to charm international auds.
Wadjda
Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda's mother won't allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl's virtue. So Wadjda decides to try and raise the money herself.
At first, Wadjda's mother is too preoccupied with convincing her husband not to take a second wife to realize what's going on. And soon enough Wadjda's plans are thwarted when she is caught running various schemes at school. Just as she is losing hope of raising enough money, she hears of a cash prize for a Koran recitation competition at her school. She devotes herself to the memorization and recitation of Koranic verses, and her teachers begin to see Wadjda as a model pious girl. The competition isn‘t going to be easy, especially for a troublemaker like Wadjda, but she refuses to give in. She is determined to continue fighting for her dreams.
At first, Wadjda's mother is too preoccupied with convincing her husband not to take a second wife to realize what's going on. And soon enough Wadjda's plans are thwarted when she is caught running various schemes at school. Just as she is losing hope of raising enough money, she hears of a cash prize for a Koran recitation competition at her school. She devotes herself to the memorization and recitation of Koranic verses, and her teachers begin to see Wadjda as a model pious girl. The competition isn‘t going to be easy, especially for a troublemaker like Wadjda, but she refuses to give in. She is determined to continue fighting for her dreams.
Genre
Drama
Web Site
Runtime
98
Language
Arabic
Director
Haifaa Al-Mansour
Cast
Reem Abdullah,
Waad Mohammed,
Abdullrahman Al Gohani,
Ahd,
Sultan Al Assaf
Awards:
Winner, ‘CinemAvvenire' Award ~ Best Film, Venice Film Festival
FEATURED REVIEW
Michael Bonner, Uncut Magazine [UK]
Wadjda is the first full-length feature film shot entirely inside Saudi Arabia, a conservative Islamic country where women are denied civic freedoms or any public role. It’s director is Haifaa Al-Mansour, a Saudi-born female filmmaker who now lives in Bahrain. While shooting on location in the Saudi ...
Played at
Royal 9.13.13 - 10.10.13
Playhouse 7 9.20.13 - 10.10.13
Town Center 5 9.20.13 - 10.10.13
Monica Film Center 10.11.13 - 10.24.13
Lumiere Music Hall 11.08.13 - 11.14.13
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