Wadjda
Wadjda, an 11 year old Saudi girl living in Riyadh, dreams of owning a green bicycle. She wants to race her friend Abdullah, a local boy, but riding bikes is frowned on for girls and her mother refuses to buy one. Wadjda tries various schemes to try to raise the money herself including entering the school's Qur'an recital competition.
The film was made on location in Riyadh by a woman director, a double first. There may be a third as it is expected to be the first Saudi Arabian film to be nominated for the foreign film Oscar. One Saudi Arabian commentator, Al-Harbi, hopes it won't be successful as a win for the film "will open discussion about the tribulations of the Saudi woman and her forced seclusion. We do not want such idle talk. The Saudi woman is a precious jewel which is to be tightly guraded. She should not at all think of riding a bicylce. If the circumstances oblige her to ride a bicycle as a mean of transport, she can recruit an Asian driver to do the job".
Genuine, apparently!
