Wadjda (2012)

Release date: 2013-05-16
Country: Saudi Arabia|Netherlands|Germany|Jordan|United Arab Emirates|USA
Language: Arabic
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour (as Haifaa Al Mansour)
Production Co: Razor Film Produktion GmbH, Highlook Communications Group, Rotana Film Production
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: 7.5/10
Length: 1h 38min

Storyline

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 Quran recitation competition at her school. She devotes herself...

Plot Keywords

crush, religious, friendship, children, school uniform, family relationships, child's point of view, little boy, little girl, child protagonist, female protagonist, driver, mother daughter relationship, prayer, fireworks, photograph, wedding, sneakers, tomboy, radio

Short Review

The overall pro-freedom message comes through loud and clear. Rhetorically speaking, the trick of using childish innocence to reveal adult hypocrisy is virtually foolproof.