Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 11, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $40.99
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Waad Mohammed is Wadjda.
Directed by Haifaa Al Mansour, the 2013 drama Wadjda represents a bunch of “firsts” — the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, the first Saudi film written and directed by a woman, and the first Saudi submission to the Foreign Language committee for the Academy Awards.
In the film, Wadjda (newcomer Waad Mohammed) is a fun-loving 10-year-old girl living in Saudi Arabia who has her heart set on a beautiful new bicycle. However, her mother (popular Saudi television star Reem Abdullah in her first feature film role) won’t allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. Determined to turn her dreams into reality and buy the bike on her own, Wadjda uncovers the contradictions and opportunities in her world.
The PG-rated Wadjda...
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $40.99
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Waad Mohammed is Wadjda.
Directed by Haifaa Al Mansour, the 2013 drama Wadjda represents a bunch of “firsts” — the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, the first Saudi film written and directed by a woman, and the first Saudi submission to the Foreign Language committee for the Academy Awards.
In the film, Wadjda (newcomer Waad Mohammed) is a fun-loving 10-year-old girl living in Saudi Arabia who has her heart set on a beautiful new bicycle. However, her mother (popular Saudi television star Reem Abdullah in her first feature film role) won’t allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. Determined to turn her dreams into reality and buy the bike on her own, Wadjda uncovers the contradictions and opportunities in her world.
The PG-rated Wadjda...
- 1/8/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Wadjda, Saudi Arabia’s Submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. U.S.: Sony Pictures Classics. International Sales Agent: The Match Factory.
Even before the film appears on the screen there is a sense of added importance that permeates it. Just on the ground that this is not only the first ever feature film from a female Saudi Arabian director but also the first ever to be shot entirely inside the country, should makes this an event. Movie theaters are banned in the Middle Eastern Kingdom, and women live under highly restricted circumstances that forbid them even from driving, such facts make of Haifaa al-Mansour’s film a defiant move, even a political statement. But to judge a film solely on the politics that surrounded its production would be unproductive; however, with a work like Wadjda that is not necessary since it shines on its own merits.
The title character, 10-year-old Wadjda (Waad Mohammed), seems unaffected by the cloud of machismo and Islamic limitations that cover her environment. She attends an all-girls school, as mandated by the religious establishment, but that doesn’t prevent her from having a young male friend Abdullah (Abdullrahman Algohani), whose bicycle becomes her object of desire. Not only does Wadjda need to figure out how to get the money for a bike, but also how to go around the ingrained belief that girls should not ride them because they risk their sacred virginity. That is why a situation that could be deemed a mundane premise in the Western world becomes a norm-challenging story, in which via the simplicity of a childhood desire other more profound concerns about civil liberties for women are expressed.
Wearing purple sneakers, listening to rock bands on the radio, and devising ingenious scams to achieve her goal, Wadjda separates herself from the rest of the girls. Her mother (Reem Abdullah) is conservative but never fully oppressive, she understands the parameters by which they must exist, but seems to find hope in her daughter’s actions, and that is the true spirit of the film, hopeful. Women must endure long drives to their place of employment and pay to be driven around to comply with the submission that is expected from them, such lack of freedom of mobility reinforces the significance for a young girl to have access to a bicycle. Yet, for all the support at home, Wadjda is faced with the realities of her gender at school. Girls her age are ready to be married off, little girls are guilt for standing in the view field of men, and others are accused of indecent conduct for holding hands.
This is a hard world to live in for a girl who has not been tainted with insecurity or self-pity, not once is Wadjda seen surrendering her individuality or giving in to what adults tell her is the right place for a girl. Young Waad Mohammed infuses Wadjda with mischievous heart-warming quality. She is a rascal and a sweetheart at once, one that will stop at nothing to get her cherished ride but who also feels utter love and respect for both of her parents, even if their relationship is doomed by the common practice of polygamy. It is outstanding how Haifaa al-Mansour was able to conceive a fantastically multilayered screenplay that pushes the boundaries of what femininity means not only in the extremely traditional society of Saudi Arabia but in the entire region.
Wadjda’s definitive plot to obtain the money she needs for her bicycle, which has been on a sort of layaway system by the local toy vendor, is to win her school’s Quran reading and trivia contest. She is determined to succeed and devotes her time to learning and practicing it, certainly for her ulterior motives, but nonetheless she learns, and she is rewarded for it. That is probably the director’s biggest achievement, by utilizing all burdens and troubles not as fixed punishments but as obstacles to overcome, she has made a film that speaks of woman in her country as intelligent, ambitious, and creative individuals who are not less virtuous in the religious sense by being so.
Review First Published on IonCinema
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
Even before the film appears on the screen there is a sense of added importance that permeates it. Just on the ground that this is not only the first ever feature film from a female Saudi Arabian director but also the first ever to be shot entirely inside the country, should makes this an event. Movie theaters are banned in the Middle Eastern Kingdom, and women live under highly restricted circumstances that forbid them even from driving, such facts make of Haifaa al-Mansour’s film a defiant move, even a political statement. But to judge a film solely on the politics that surrounded its production would be unproductive; however, with a work like Wadjda that is not necessary since it shines on its own merits.
The title character, 10-year-old Wadjda (Waad Mohammed), seems unaffected by the cloud of machismo and Islamic limitations that cover her environment. She attends an all-girls school, as mandated by the religious establishment, but that doesn’t prevent her from having a young male friend Abdullah (Abdullrahman Algohani), whose bicycle becomes her object of desire. Not only does Wadjda need to figure out how to get the money for a bike, but also how to go around the ingrained belief that girls should not ride them because they risk their sacred virginity. That is why a situation that could be deemed a mundane premise in the Western world becomes a norm-challenging story, in which via the simplicity of a childhood desire other more profound concerns about civil liberties for women are expressed.
Wearing purple sneakers, listening to rock bands on the radio, and devising ingenious scams to achieve her goal, Wadjda separates herself from the rest of the girls. Her mother (Reem Abdullah) is conservative but never fully oppressive, she understands the parameters by which they must exist, but seems to find hope in her daughter’s actions, and that is the true spirit of the film, hopeful. Women must endure long drives to their place of employment and pay to be driven around to comply with the submission that is expected from them, such lack of freedom of mobility reinforces the significance for a young girl to have access to a bicycle. Yet, for all the support at home, Wadjda is faced with the realities of her gender at school. Girls her age are ready to be married off, little girls are guilt for standing in the view field of men, and others are accused of indecent conduct for holding hands.
This is a hard world to live in for a girl who has not been tainted with insecurity or self-pity, not once is Wadjda seen surrendering her individuality or giving in to what adults tell her is the right place for a girl. Young Waad Mohammed infuses Wadjda with mischievous heart-warming quality. She is a rascal and a sweetheart at once, one that will stop at nothing to get her cherished ride but who also feels utter love and respect for both of her parents, even if their relationship is doomed by the common practice of polygamy. It is outstanding how Haifaa al-Mansour was able to conceive a fantastically multilayered screenplay that pushes the boundaries of what femininity means not only in the extremely traditional society of Saudi Arabia but in the entire region.
Wadjda’s definitive plot to obtain the money she needs for her bicycle, which has been on a sort of layaway system by the local toy vendor, is to win her school’s Quran reading and trivia contest. She is determined to succeed and devotes her time to learning and practicing it, certainly for her ulterior motives, but nonetheless she learns, and she is rewarded for it. That is probably the director’s biggest achievement, by utilizing all burdens and troubles not as fixed punishments but as obstacles to overcome, she has made a film that speaks of woman in her country as intelligent, ambitious, and creative individuals who are not less virtuous in the religious sense by being so.
Review First Published on IonCinema
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
- 10/25/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
I'm guessing many women reading this review can remember learning to ride a bicycle -- getting the training wheels off, or refusing to have them in the first place, perhaps having someone hold the back of the seat and run behind you ... and that glorious moment when you achieve solo cycling.
In the movie Wadjda, the title character is a girl who wants to own and ride a bike in a society where such an activity is considered inappropriate for females. An event most of us take for granted becomes subversive, and the simple story of the film takes on many layers. It's remarkably fascinating, primarily due to its contemporary Saudi Arabia setting.
The basic premise of the story -- Wadjda (Waad Mohammed) wants the bicycle for sale at the nearby toy store, and will do anything she can to earn the money for it -- is enhanced by the...
In the movie Wadjda, the title character is a girl who wants to own and ride a bike in a society where such an activity is considered inappropriate for females. An event most of us take for granted becomes subversive, and the simple story of the film takes on many layers. It's remarkably fascinating, primarily due to its contemporary Saudi Arabia setting.
The basic premise of the story -- Wadjda (Waad Mohammed) wants the bicycle for sale at the nearby toy store, and will do anything she can to earn the money for it -- is enhanced by the...
- 10/19/2013
- by Jette Kernion
- Slackerwood
In Saudi Arabia, women are deemed inferior, banned from driving, playing sports, voting, holding most jobs, and walking in public without permission. That ain’t right! But one woman there has, for the first time, directed a movie. Cinemas are banned there as well, so none of her fellow countrywomen will see it, but good for her anyway! Haifaa Al Mansour reportedly had to direct much of Wadjda over the phone because of that country’s strict rules on men taking direction from women in public, but she got her film in the can and that in itself is quite an achievement. The end result is a nice low-key drama with a deceptively simple story and some nice performances. There’s much charm to be found in Wadjda, but some clunky plotting and characterization gives it something of a made-for-tv quality.
Wadjda puts a human face on the current state...
Wadjda puts a human face on the current state...
- 10/18/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Wadjda
Directed by: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Cast: Waad Mohammed, Reem Abdullah, Ahd
Running Time: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: PG
Release Date: September 20, 2013 (Chicago)
Plot: A ten-year-old from Saudi Arabia named Wadjda (Mohammed) enters a Koran-reciting contest so that she can use the prize money to buy a bike.
Who’S It For? Those who like to witness revolutions.
Overall
Wadjda is a film from a country that doesn’t have movie theaters. It is about archaic rules for women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a country that fears gender mixing at public film screenings. Saudi Arabia has a slowly growing film scene, but such homemade products, such as first-Saudi-made movie titled in 2006 Keif al-Hal? (translated to “How are you?”) can only be viewed in private living spaces. Showtime Arabia hooked people up with Keif al-Hal, and TV is a handy way to get censored media. Even video stores exist, but scenes...
Directed by: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Cast: Waad Mohammed, Reem Abdullah, Ahd
Running Time: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: PG
Release Date: September 20, 2013 (Chicago)
Plot: A ten-year-old from Saudi Arabia named Wadjda (Mohammed) enters a Koran-reciting contest so that she can use the prize money to buy a bike.
Who’S It For? Those who like to witness revolutions.
Overall
Wadjda is a film from a country that doesn’t have movie theaters. It is about archaic rules for women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a country that fears gender mixing at public film screenings. Saudi Arabia has a slowly growing film scene, but such homemade products, such as first-Saudi-made movie titled in 2006 Keif al-Hal? (translated to “How are you?”) can only be viewed in private living spaces. Showtime Arabia hooked people up with Keif al-Hal, and TV is a handy way to get censored media. Even video stores exist, but scenes...
- 9/20/2013
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Chicago – Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” is a deceptive film. It feels like a relatively slight story in that it’s about a headstrong girl who wants a bike. That’s it. Pretty simple stuff. And yet it’s not simple at all in Wadjda’s part of the world. She is a 10-year-old Saudi girl and not only are Saudi girls not supposed to ride bikes, they’re not supposed to even show their faces if men could possibly be in their line of sight. With a strong breakthrough performance at its core, “Wadjda” is a film about how cultural and social revolution starts quietly in neighborhoods and homes where girls want to ride bikes.
Wadjda’s mother (Reem Abdullah) works hard, forced to ride in a car with broken air conditioning for hours just to makes ends meet as Wadjda’s father (Sultan Al Assaf) is absent for weeks at a time.
Chicago – Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” is a deceptive film. It feels like a relatively slight story in that it’s about a headstrong girl who wants a bike. That’s it. Pretty simple stuff. And yet it’s not simple at all in Wadjda’s part of the world. She is a 10-year-old Saudi girl and not only are Saudi girls not supposed to ride bikes, they’re not supposed to even show their faces if men could possibly be in their line of sight. With a strong breakthrough performance at its core, “Wadjda” is a film about how cultural and social revolution starts quietly in neighborhoods and homes where girls want to ride bikes.
Wadjda’s mother (Reem Abdullah) works hard, forced to ride in a car with broken air conditioning for hours just to makes ends meet as Wadjda’s father (Sultan Al Assaf) is absent for weeks at a time.
- 9/20/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The Kid Without A Bike: Charming Ride Through Gender Politics in the Middle East
Even before the film appears on the screen there is a sense of added importance that permeates it. Just on the ground that this is not only the first ever feature film from a female Saudi Arabian director but also the first ever to be shot entirely inside the country, should makes this an event. Movie theaters are banned in the Middle Eastern Kingdom, and women live under highly restricted circumstances that forbid them even from driving, such facts make of Haifaa al-Mansour’s film a defiant move, even a political statement. But to judge a film solely on the politics that surrounded its production would be unproductive; however, with a work like Wadjda that is not necessary since it shines on its own merits.
The title character, 10-year-old Wadjda (Waad Mohammed), seems unaffected by the...
Even before the film appears on the screen there is a sense of added importance that permeates it. Just on the ground that this is not only the first ever feature film from a female Saudi Arabian director but also the first ever to be shot entirely inside the country, should makes this an event. Movie theaters are banned in the Middle Eastern Kingdom, and women live under highly restricted circumstances that forbid them even from driving, such facts make of Haifaa al-Mansour’s film a defiant move, even a political statement. But to judge a film solely on the politics that surrounded its production would be unproductive; however, with a work like Wadjda that is not necessary since it shines on its own merits.
The title character, 10-year-old Wadjda (Waad Mohammed), seems unaffected by the...
- 9/13/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- IONCINEMA.com
★★★★☆ Having already made history as the first full-length feature ever to have been filmed entirely inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Haifaa al-Mansour's charming debut, Wadjda (2012), cleverly conceals a wealth of sociopolitical complexity beneath its deceptively simplistic central narrative. Featuring a breakout performance from 12-year-old, Riyadh-born non-professional Waad Mohammed as the "spunky little girl" of the film's title, this even-handed fable portrays the Kingdom as a nation on the peripheries of great change, with gender equality foremost in the minds of thousands of young, aspirational Saudi women.
Each day, en route to her all-girls school, Wadjda passes a toy store housing a beautiful green bicycle. Keen to be able to race against a local boy, despite that fact that it's 'forbidden' for women to ride bikes, Wadjda begins her own black market operation in the playground selling 'illicit products' such as jewellery. After a few close calls, our protagonists...
Each day, en route to her all-girls school, Wadjda passes a toy store housing a beautiful green bicycle. Keen to be able to race against a local boy, despite that fact that it's 'forbidden' for women to ride bikes, Wadjda begins her own black market operation in the playground selling 'illicit products' such as jewellery. After a few close calls, our protagonists...
- 7/18/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Wadjda has debuted a trailer.
Director Haifaa Al Mansour's film is a landmark for Saudi Arabia.
Not only is it the first shot entirely within the country, but it is the first feature to be directed by a woman.
The film centres around the titular character, a young girl who is desperate to buy a bicycle despite the opposition of her school and family.
Wadjda explores the social and gender issues that result from Saudi Arabia's deep-rooted traditions.
Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Abdullrahman Algohani, Ahd Kamel and Sultan Al Assaf star in the film, which premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival.
Wadjda will debut on July 19.
Director Haifaa Al Mansour's film is a landmark for Saudi Arabia.
Not only is it the first shot entirely within the country, but it is the first feature to be directed by a woman.
The film centres around the titular character, a young girl who is desperate to buy a bicycle despite the opposition of her school and family.
Wadjda explores the social and gender issues that result from Saudi Arabia's deep-rooted traditions.
Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Abdullrahman Algohani, Ahd Kamel and Sultan Al Assaf star in the film, which premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival.
Wadjda will debut on July 19.
- 7/5/2013
- Digital Spy
Hafaa Al-Mansour directs and also writes the winner of three awards at the Venice International Film Festival, and winner of two awards at the Dubai International Film Festival. We invite you to watch the trailer for Wadjda which stars Waad Mohammed and Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd and Sultan Al Assaf, and is distributed Stateside via Sony Pictures Classics, with a yet-to-be-determined release date. 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...
- 7/4/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Watch a clip from Wadjda starring Waad Mohammed. Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, the multiple award-winning drama also stars Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd and Sultan Al Assaf. 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...
- 4/15/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Watch a clip from Wadjda starring Waad Mohammed. Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, the multiple award-winning drama also stars Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd and Sultan Al Assaf. 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...
- 4/15/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
With over 200 films having screened at the 56th London Film Festival in October, it’s nearly impossible to say with genuine certainty what films presented were truly the cream of the entire crop. Yet, by metaphorically placing an ear to the ground (or reading Twitter, perhaps) a picture begins to form of what underwhelmed and what delighted or surprised.
Falling firmly into the latter category is Haifaa Al-Mansour’s debut feature film, Wadjda, which earned a “special mention” at the London Film Festival’s awards ceremony. Its two sold-out festival screenings helped earn UK distribution for the charming, yet remarkably brave tale of a fierce, young Saudi girl who rejects society’s expectations of her. Written and directed by Saudi Arabia’s first female director, there’s no denying how feminist a work Wadjda is. That such a film should be produced within the strict Islamist kingdom to begin with...
Falling firmly into the latter category is Haifaa Al-Mansour’s debut feature film, Wadjda, which earned a “special mention” at the London Film Festival’s awards ceremony. Its two sold-out festival screenings helped earn UK distribution for the charming, yet remarkably brave tale of a fierce, young Saudi girl who rejects society’s expectations of her. Written and directed by Saudi Arabia’s first female director, there’s no denying how feminist a work Wadjda is. That such a film should be produced within the strict Islamist kingdom to begin with...
- 11/23/2012
- by Jeff Galasso
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
David here with words on a milestone in film history showing at the 56th BFI London Film Festival.
Waad Mohammad as 'Wadjda'
Miracles do happen. Haifaa Al-Mansour’s debut feature Wadjda is one of them. The first film to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, where movie theatres are illegal, Wadjda is also the first film ever made by a Saudi woman. As the film shows, gender equality is still non-existent in Saudi Arabia – Reem Abdullah’s working mother relies on a driver to ferry her to work every day and Wadjda (Waad Mohammad) is omitted from her father’s family tree. Despite these socio-political outrages, Wadjda is never aggressive or dogmatic about getting any agenda across to its audience. Focusing its energies on the “spunky” young heroine of the title, Wadjda stitches the injustice and sexism that’s at the heart of Saudi Arabian society into the...
Waad Mohammad as 'Wadjda'
Miracles do happen. Haifaa Al-Mansour’s debut feature Wadjda is one of them. The first film to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, where movie theatres are illegal, Wadjda is also the first film ever made by a Saudi woman. As the film shows, gender equality is still non-existent in Saudi Arabia – Reem Abdullah’s working mother relies on a driver to ferry her to work every day and Wadjda (Waad Mohammad) is omitted from her father’s family tree. Despite these socio-political outrages, Wadjda is never aggressive or dogmatic about getting any agenda across to its audience. Focusing its energies on the “spunky” young heroine of the title, Wadjda stitches the injustice and sexism that’s at the heart of Saudi Arabian society into the...
- 10/15/2012
- by Dave
- FilmExperience
It is illegal to show movies publicly in Saudi Arabia. It is forbidden for adult women to do almost anything without the permission of a male “guardian,” usually a father, brother, or husband. And yet somehow Haifaa Al-Mansour managed to write and direct a feature film -- she is the first Saudi woman to do so, and how she managed this and whether there will be repercussions are things I worry about on her behalf. I also wondered whether the sheer novelty of Wadjda’s origin would be the most interesting thing about it. In this, at least, my worries have been put to rest. For this is a delightful and powerfully satisfying film in all ways, an arthouse crowd-pleaser about a charmingly irrepressible protagonist that’s also a big ol’ delicious Fuck You, both within its story and in the larger context of its own very existence, to anyone...
- 10/11/2012
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
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