Wadjda

2013 - Dir: Haifaa el Mansour
 Shown in FeckenOdeon 2 on 18th October, 2013

As the first woman to shoot a Saudi Arabian feature film, writer-director Haifaa Al Mansour has already assured herself of a small place in history. And yet Wadjda stands on its own merits. The road is dusty, bumpy and fraught with danger but up ahead lies a bittersweet party and the scent of a happy ending. Wadjda knows it is there and she bears down on the pedals. In Saudi girls don’t ride bikes and they certainly don’t ride them with their male friends... in fact Saudi girls aren’t allowed to do much at all. This tale could so easily have delivered its message in a worthy, plodding way. Instead it’s light, funny and very human - and opens up a window on a world we westerners know little about.
While the film has no direct moral message, it becomes a clear illustration of how many of the rules Wadjda faces are not about being a moral person, but about control—control of women by men. The main drama in the film revolves around the absurdity of laws that control the independent movement of women: Wadjda has to watch with envy as her male friends bike around the neighbourhood streets for fun, while her mother has to rely on an unreliable driver just to get to work. As she learns the Koran by heart, Wadjda also begins to figure out which nonsensical rules she should subvert and which ancient lessons she should aim to follow.
It took Mansour five years to pull together the funds to film Wadjda - the money eventually came from a German company.  Her crew had always to be on the lookout for religious police during the six-month shoot and she was often obliged to hide in the back of a van to avoid detection. She was driven to make the film that she says is based on a niece, whom she described to the New York Times: "She's very feisty, she has a great sense of humour, but my brother is more conservative, and he wanted her to conform," she said. "To me, that's a great loss. It reminds me of a lot of girls in my home town who had great potential. They could change the world if they were given the chance."
While Haifaa al-Mansour's gruelling effort to make the film is certainly impressive, Wadjda doesn't rest on the accomplishment of being an international first - the film is excellent by any standard. It would be a great film even if it were the fourth film shot in Saudi Arabia or the hundredth.