Wadjda (2012)

If I got it right, Wadjda (dir. Haifaa Al-Mansour) is the first film entirely shot in Saudi Arabia. And the director is a woman. What is more, Wadjda is clearly a feminist film about gender and power. Despite some unfortunate choices where the crew opts for conventional narrative solutions, this is a powerful film with a strong story told by means of simple and effective cinematic devices (one reference could be Samira Makhmalbaf's The Apple, a similarly sympathetic and focused film). Wadjda is a kid whose big dream is to buy a bike. Her mother consider it out of the question: a girl would never ride a bike. Wadjda is stubborn. She enrolls in a Quran competition where she can win a decent amount of money to buy the bike herself. The film follows Wadjda's struggles with a conservative society. There are no good and bad people here, just people being afraid of being different, or opening themselves to others. These fears are disclosed not through some extra-ordinary events but in the day-to-day life comprising family struggles, urban living and the school system. The merit of the film is, as I said, it's simplicity. It follows the sneaker-clad Wadjda on her way to school, on her interaction with other pupils, with her friend Abdullah or with her mother. Her unwillingness to comply with collective patterns rarely gets a sugar-coated heroic tone - she is a person who reacts and acts (the Dardenne brothers' Rosetta comes to mind). Many scenes contain an interesting ambiguousness, such as a very moving scene in which Wadjda is reading a section from the Quran, a section she has chosen herself; this scene contains no stereotypical critique of religion as being conservative as such. Another aspect I liked about the film is its close attention to the urban surrounding in which Wadjda spends her day-to-day life. The film abounds with urban non-places as well as images of hectic street life. And this all is interesting because of the film's content. The city is both a place of limitation where certain things are forbidden but it is also shown as a space for play, creativity and defiance.