10-year-old Wadjda challenges deep-rooted Saudi traditions in a determined quest to buy a bicycle. When everything goes against her plans, she sees one last chance in her school’s Koran recitation competition and the large cash prize for first place.
The first film ever shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, WADJDA is the story of a girl determined to fight for her dreams.
- Director：Haifaa al-Mansour
- Saudi Arabia
- 2012
- 98min.
- color
- -
- Arabic
- JPN Sub.
CAST: Wadjda: Waad Mohammed, Abdullah: Abdullrahman Algohani, Mother: Reem Abdullah, Father: Sultan Al Assaf, Ms Hussa: Ahd| Director & Script: Haifaa Al Mansour| Director of Photography: Lutz Reitemeier| Sound: Marc Meusinger| Production Design: Thomas Molt| Costume Design: Peter Pohl| Editor: Andreas Wodraschke| PRODUCTION: Razor Film, Germany| Co-Producer Saudi-Arabia: Amr J Alkahtani, Highlook Communications Group| Associate Producers: Dr. Hala Sarhan, Christian Granderath, Bettina Ricklefs| GERMAN FUNDING: German Federal Film Fund (FFA), Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, Middle German Media Support (MDM), Leipzig| BROADCASTER: Rotana Studios (Riyadh), NDR (Hamburg), BR (Munich)
Haifaa Al Mansour finished her bachelor’s degree in Literature at the American University in Cairo and completed a Master’s degree in Directing and Film Studies from the University of Sydney. She is considered the first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia and her feature film WADJDA (2012) was the first feature film ever to be shot entirely inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Invited to over 40 festivals worldwide, WADJDA garnered numerous awards – among others in Venice, Rotterdam and Dubai. In 2017 her adaptation of the biography Mary Shelley premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
