Wadjda

A film about a girl in Saudi Arabia who wants a bicycle. Wadjda is ten and lives in Riyadh. She wants to race her friend Abdullah but has no bicycle, and girls riding bicycles is not welcomed around her. She starts saving towards the price of the green one she has seen in a shop. She finds her way to the money at school: there is a Quran recitation competition with a prize. Wadjda abruptly becomes a devout student and starts memorising. The film's strength is that it makes no speeches. The narrative says nothing about the system; it simply shows, one by one, the obstacles between a child and the thing she wants. Her mother's life, the headmistress's attitude and the rules of the street stand in the background. It was the first feature film shot entirely inside Saudi Arabia. Because the director is a woman she could not stand in the street with the crew for some scenes and directed them from inside a van by radio. Waad Mohammed plays Wadjda. Haifaa al-Mansour directed. An important production for anyone who likes independent cinema and child-centred storytelling. For a viewer expecting hard criticism, the film keeps its register measured and does not state its anger directly.