Wadjda

  • Wadjda
  • وجدة
Directed by Haifaa al-Mansour
Produced by
  • Gerhard Meixner
  • Roman Paul
Written by Haifaa al-Mansour
Starring
Music by Max Richter
Cinematography Lutz Reitemeier
Edited by Andreas Wodraschke
Production
company
Distributed by Koch Media (Germany, all media)
Release dates
Running time
 98 minutes
Country
Language Arabic
Box office $14.5 million[1]

Wadjda (Arabic: وجدة‎‎) is a 2012 Saudi Arabian drama film, written and directed by Haifaa al-Mansour. It was the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia[2][3][4][5] and the first feature-length film made by a female Saudi director.[6][7] It won numerous awards at film festivals around the world. The film was selected as the Saudi Arabian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards (the first time the country made a submission for the Oscars[8]), but it was not nominated.[9][10][11] It successfully earned a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the 2014 BAFTA Awards.

Plot

Based in the 2000s, Wadjda, an 11-year-old Saudi girl living in the capital Riyadh, dreams of owning a green bicycle that she passes in a store every day on her way to school. She wants to race against her friend Abdullah, a boy from the neighborhood, but riding bikes is frowned upon for girls and Wadjda's mother refuses to buy one for her daughter. Wadjda tries to find the money herself by selling mixtapes, hand-braiding bracelets for classmates and acting as a go-between for an older student, activities which run her afoul of the strict headmistress. Her mother, meanwhile, is dealing with a job with a terrible commute and a husband who is considering taking on a second wife, because Wadjda's mother can no longer have children.

Wadjda decides to participate in a Quran recital competition featuring a SR1,000 cash prize (equivalent of about US$270[12]) which would allow her to pay for the SR800 bike. Her efforts at memorizing the verses impress her teacher, but when Wadjda wins the competition, she shocks the staff by announcing her intention to buy a bicycle with the prize money.[7][13][14][15] She is told that the money will instead be donated to Palestine on her behalf.

Wadjda returns home to find that her father has taken a second wife, and that her mother, now sporting a shorter haircut that she wanted but her husband opposed, has bought the green bicycle from the toy store. The next day, Wadjda wins her race against Abdullah.

Cast

Production

According to the director Haifaa al-Mansour, it took five years to make Wadjda. She spent most of the time trying to find financial backing and getting filming permission, since she insisted on filming in Saudi Arabia for reasons of authenticity. She received backing from Rotana, the film production company of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. However, she very much wanted to find a foreign co-producer because "in Saudi there are no movie theatres, there is no film industry to speak of and, therefore, little money for investment".[13] After her selection for a Sundance Institute writer's lab in Jordan, al-Mansour got in touch with the German production company Razor Film, which had previously produced films with Middle-Eastern topics (Paradise Now and Waltz with Bashir).[13] The production involved co-operation with two German public TV broadcasters, Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Bayerischer Rundfunk.[15] Additional funding came from Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA, Berlin); Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH (MBB, Potsdam); Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung GmbH (MDM, Leipzig); and Filmfonds Babelsberg (ILB, Potsdam-Babelsberg).[15]

Al-Mansour's screenplay was influenced by neorealist cinema like Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves, Jafar Panahi's Offside or Rosetta. The final scene recalls the final scene of François Truffaut's The 400 Blows. Al-Mansour says that the original version of her screenplay was much bleaker than the finished product: "I decided I didn't want the film to carry a slogan and scream, but just to create a story where people can laugh and cry a little."[13] Al-Mansour based the character of Wadjda on one of her nieces and also on her own experiences when growing up.[13] The main themes of the story are freedom, as represented by the bicycle, and the fear of emotional abandonment, as Wadjda's father wants to take a second wife who will provide him with a son.[13]

Wadjda was filmed on the streets of Riyadh, which often made it necessary for the director to work from the back of a van, as she could not publicly mix with the men in the crew. Often, she could only communicate via walkie-talkie and had to watch the actors on a monitor. This made it difficult to direct: "It made me realise the need to rehearse and to develop an understanding for each scene before we shot it."[13]

Waad Mohammed, who plays Wadjda, was a first-time actress.[13]

Reception

Wadjda received critical acclaim. The film-critics aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reported 99% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 102 reviews, with an average score of 8/10. The critical consensus is: "Transgressive in the best possible way, Wadjda presents a startlingly assured new voice from a corner of the globe where cinema has been all but silenced."[16] Metacritic, which assigns a standardized score out of 100, rated the film 81 based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[17]

Release

The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August 2012. It was released in Germany by Koch Media in 2013. Other distributors are: Pretty Pictures (France, theatrical), Sony Pictures Classics (USA, theatrical), Wild Bunch Benelux (Netherlands, theatrical), The Match Factory (Non-USA, all media) and Soda Pictures (UK, all media). It has been shown at several film festivals:

Country Release Date Film Festival or full release Note
Italy 31 August 2012[18] Venice Film Festival
USA 15 September 2012[18] Telluride Film Festival
Poland 28 November 2012[18] Filmy Swiata ale kino+ Festival
Iceland 29 November 2012[18] Fully
Italy 6 December 2012[18] Fully
Netherlands 26 January 2013[18] International Film Festival Rotterdam
Sweden 30 January 2013[18] Goteborg International Film Festival
Belgium 6 February 2013[18] Fully
France 6 February 2013[18] Fully
Serbia 23 February 2013[18] Belgrade Film Festival
Sweden 8 March 2013[18] Fully
Netherlands 16 May 2013[18] Fully
Spain 28 June 2013[18] Fully
UK 19 July 2013[13] Fully
Germany 25 July 2013 Fünf-Seen-Filmfestival[19]
Germany 15 August 2013[18] Fully

Other screenings include as the opening film of the 6th Gulf Film Festival in Dubai (11–17 April) and at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York (21/25 April).[13] The film is scheduled to be released on DVD in February 2014.[20]

Awards

Awards
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipients and nominees Result
Asia Pacific Screen Awards[21] 12 December 2013 Best Children's Feature Film Nominated
Alliance of Women Film Journalists[22] 19 December 2013 Best Non-English Language Film Nominated
This Year's Outstanding Achievement By a Woman in the Film Industry Haaifa Al-Mansour for challenging the limitations placed on women within her culture.[22] Won
British Film Institute 20 October 2012 Sutherland Trophy Haifaa Al-Mansour Nominated
Dubai International Film Festival[6] 18 December 2012 Muhr Arab Award Waad Mohammed (Best Actress – Feature)
Roman Paul (Best Film – Feature)
Gerhard Meixner (Best Film - Feature)		 Won
Fribourg International Film Festival 23 March 2013 Grand Prix Haifaa Al-Mansour Nominated
International Film Festival 1 June 2013 Südwind-Filmpreis Haifaa Al-Mansour Won
Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards[23][24] 16 February 2014 Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue & ADR in a Foreign Feature Film Sebastian Schmidt Nominated
National Board of Review 4 December 2013 NBR Freedom of Expression Haifaa Al-Mansour Won
Palm Springs International Film Festival 13 January 2014 Directors to Watch Haifaa Al-Mansour Won
Rotterdam International Film Festival 2 February 2013 Dioraphte Award Haifaa Al-Mansour Won
San Francisco Film Critics Circle[25] 15 December 2013 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 27 November 2012 Don Quixote Award Haifaa Al-Mansour Special Mention
Netpac Award Special Mention
Grand Prize Nominated
Vancouver International Film Festival[26] 12 October 2013 Most Popular International First Feature Award Haifaa Al-Mansour Won
Venice Film Festival 8 September 2012 CinemAvvenire Award Haifaa Al-Mansour (Best Film—Il cerchio non è rotondo Award)
C.I.C.A.E. Award Haifaa Al-Mansour
Interfilm Award
British Academy Film Awards 16 February 2014 Best Foreign Film Haifaa Al-Mansour, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul Nominated

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Wadjda#tab=summary
  2. ↑ "Cannes 2012: Saudi Arabia's First Female Director Brings 'Wadjda' to Fest". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  3. ↑ "Saudi's first female director seeks to break gender taboos". Times. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  4. ↑ Macnab, Geoffrey (15 May 2012). "Al Mansour reveals struggles of directing Wadjda". Screen Daily. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "First film shot in Saudi to debut at Cannes". Arabian Business. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Dubai International Film Festival". Dubaifilmfest.com. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  7. 1 2 "Wadjda". Euronews. 2013-02-07. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  8. ↑ "Oscars: Saudi Arabia Nominates 'Wadjda' for Foreign Language Category". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2013-09-14.
  9. ↑ "Oscars: Saudi Arabia Taps 'Wadjda' As First Foreign-Language Entry". Variety. Retrieved 2013-09-14.
  10. ↑ "'Wadjda' is Saudi Arabia's first nominee for foreign-language Oscar". LA Times. Retrieved 2013-09-14.
  11. ↑ "Saudi Arabia submits first film for Oscars with 'Wadjda'". Gulf News. Retrieved 2013-09-14.
  12. ↑ "1 Saudi Riyal equals 0.27 US Dollar". xe.com. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Grey, Tobias (30–31 March 2013), "The undercover director", Financial Times, p. 14
  14. ↑ "Wadjda". Razor Film. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Filmportal: Wadjda". Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "Wadjda - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  17. ↑ "Wadjda Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 IMDB:Wadjda (2012)
  19. ↑ "Fünf-Seen-Filmfestival" (in German). Fsff.de. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  20. ↑ Fielding-Smith, Abigail (14–15 December 2013), "The film director blazing a trail for Saudi women", Financial Times, p. 21
  21. ↑ "Winners & Nominees 2013". asiapacificscreenacademy.com. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  22. 1 2 "2013 EDA Award Nominess". Alliance of Women Film Journalists. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  23. ↑ Walsh, Jason (15 January 2014). "Sound Editors Announce 2013 Golden Reel Nominees". Variety. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  24. ↑ "'Gravity' and '12 Years a Slave' lead MPSE Golden Reel Awards nominations". HitFix. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  25. ↑ Stone, Sasha (13 December 2013). "San Francisco Film Critics Nominations". Awards Daily. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  26. ↑ "Final Award Winners Announced & Closing Remarks". Vancouver International Film Festival. 12 October 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
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