Wadjda (2012)

There are films that matter simply because they exist. Wadjda, the 2012 drama from director Haifaa al-Mansour, is one of them. Set in Riyadh, it follows a resourceful ten-year-old girl who sets her sights on a green bicycle, a mundane enough ambition in most parts of the world, but one freighted with social meaning in Saudi Arabia, where girls cycling was widely considered improper. To raise the money she needs, she enters her school's Quran recitation competition, a plan that requires her to work within the very system she is quietly pushing against. The film is co-produced by Germany's Razor Film Produktion alongside Highlook Communications Group and Rotana Film Production, and it runs a trim 98 minutes. It draws clear comparisons to other coming-of-age stories centred on young women testing the limits placed around them, such as the German co-production Mustang (2015), and to a lesser extent the German co-produced Tiger Stripes (2023), which similarly puts a girl's bodily and social autonomy at its centre.

Al-Mansour made history with this film, not only as the first Saudi woman to direct a feature but as the person behind what is widely regarded as the first film shot entirely on location in Saudi Arabia. The production circumstances were, to put it plainly, remarkable. With public mixing of unrelated men and women restricted, al-Mansour coordinated some scenes remotely, communicating with her crew from inside a vehicle while watching a monitor. It is a production story that colours how you receive every frame. The film's visual language, handled with care and a certain quiet patience, was shaped as much by practical constraint as by artistic choice. That al-Mansour and her team produced something polished but unfussy under those conditions is worth pausing on. The result carries the texture of real Riyadh life, schoolyards, domestic interiors, and dusty streets shot with an eye that finds ordinary settings genuinely worth looking at.

The film rests squarely on the shoulders of Waad Mohammed in the title role, supported by Reem Abdullah as her mother, Abdullrahman Algohani, Ahd Kamel, and Sultan Al Assaf. Mohammed was a non-professional at the time of filming, which may explain some of the unforced naturalness she brings to the role. Abdullah, as the mother, carries a parallel story of her own, one of compromise, longing, and love, and the dynamic between the two is where much of the film's emotional weight quietly accumulates. For a sense of how this kind of warm, patient drama compares to other international work in the genre, it's worth looking at Yi Yi (2000), another drama that finds large truths in the rhythms of ordinary domestic life, and Lingui, the Sacred Bonds (2021), another German co-production built around the bond between a mother and daughter navigating a restrictive social environment.

A-Z World Movie Tour Saudi Arabia Wadjda is a quietly groundbreaking film. Not just because it’s the first ever made entirely in Saudi Arabia, but because it was made at all. At the time, cinemas were banned, so director Haifaa al-Mansour had to shoot guerrilla-style, often from a van, just to get the footage (because women aren't able to mix with men in public). That context makes the whole thing feel even more powerful. The story of a ten-year-old girl who dreams of buying a green bicycle and riding it, despite social taboos around girls cycling, is simple but deeply moving. It’s a small rebellion told with warmth, dignity, and subtle defiance. The film is beautifully put together. It's well shot, gently paced, and anchored by a brilliant performance from young Waad Mohammed. She’s spirited, clever, and never feels like a character designed to make a point; she just feels real. The cinematography captures everyday life in Riyadh with a quiet honesty, finding beauty in schoolyards, rooftops, and family homes. And the "firework scene" is pure cinematic joy. It’s subtle, but it's such a powerful Mother-Daughter moment. It does move slowly, and I’ll admit, some of the pacing threw me at first. That slowness also gives it space to breathe, to let small moments speak. Understated, culturally significant, and ultimately uplifting. A small film that carries a big heart.

I think what stays with me most is just how unshowy the whole thing is. There is no grand speechifying, no moment where the film decides to underline its own importance for you. It trusts the story, and it trusts the audience, which is rarer than it should be. The bicycle is just a bicycle, and somehow that is exactly why it means so much. Films like this remind me why I started this world tour in the first place: you go looking for a small story from somewhere unfamiliar and come away feeling like you've understood something new about people, about stubbornness, about love. Not bad going for 98 minutes and a green bike.

Rating: ★★★½  | Year: 2012  | Watched: 2025-09-01

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Trailer

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