Wadjda
Wadjda
Directed by:
Haifaa Al MansourScreenplay:
Haifaa Al MansourCinematography:
Lutz ReitemeierComposer:
Max RichterPlots(1)
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. Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale that she wants desperately so she can race her friend, Abdullah. 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. (Soda Pictures)
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Reviews (2)
It's a beautiful film about childhood dreams, how it's possible to fulfill them, and how some people will just stand in your way and want to destroy your childhood. All of this is further compounded by the fact that it takes place in a culture we don't understand, and we perceive it only as dangerous. A beautiful and beautifully moving film.
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I mostly wanted to watch this movie to meet a different culture – I got to meet it and I didn’t understand it at times. I tried to understand it throughout the movie, but in the end I still failed. After watching it, I finally thought that the attitudes towards women in the Arab world has probably changed a little since they’re allowed to shoot these sorts of movies and show things that you can’t even talk about over there. But then I read some interesting facts about the movie where I found out that she was using a walkie-talkie with the men and I suddenly realized that Germany was mostly responsible for this movie in the role of a co-producer that probably supported the director as best it could. But the ending of this movie is a beautiful chance for a better life for every woman in that country. And I thought that the hope was very honest – which is why I’m rating it so high.
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