First Movie Filmed in Saudi Arabia By a Female Director Looks Great

[rug]

Kate Dries
Monday 5:30pm

Here's the trailer for the first feature-length film ever shot in Saudi Arabia by a female filmmaker, entitled Wadjda. It's the story of a 10 year old girl named, yes, Wadjda, living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She's described as "sarcastic, funny and streetwise," all reasons that she decides to compete in a Koran memorization competition at her school to win money to buy a bicycle.

To make the movie, the filmmaker Haifaa Al-Mansour dealt with the kind of obstacles that would make an entertaining movie itself: because men and women are not allowed to interact in public in Saudi Arabia, she says “It was a major obstacle to go out in the street and talk to my actors."

Al-Mansour was previously a host for a show on Saudi Arabian television that, translated to English is called More Than a Woman. She eventually moved into short films and in an interview with Al Jazeera, explained that she feels she actually has an advantage over men trying to making movies in the Middle East:

"I really didn't want people to say 'Because she's a woman, she's only talking about woman's issues.' But when I did my documentary and it was about women, I was amazed about how it touched lots of women...It's like an area that people don't have a chance to get into, especially in Saudi Arabia. It's difficult for a male filmmaker to break into this secluded world and have the same opportunities I had."

http://jezebel.com/first-movie-filmed-in-saudi-arabia-by-a-female-director-707814110

[Jim__]

1. I don't see how the movie can be a comedy.

If it's hard for her to make a movie in Saudi Arabia because she can't talk to men in public; it's hard to understand how the plight of a 10 year old girl in Saudi Arabia can be made funny. She must have a tremendous talent if she can pull that off.

[rug]

2. She's trying to raise money to buy a bike.

Go to 1:20.

[Jim__]

3. I understand. It's just that the whole situation seems unbelievably sad.

It's tremendous that she make a comedy out of it. I just don't understand how she can see humor in it all.

[rug]

4. Humor is one of the last things to die.

There's humor in almost any situation no matter how bleak.

I'm looking forward to seeing this. I'm sure the director deals with the environment she's filming. Maybe she should have subtitled it "A Feminist in a Theocracy".

[el_bryanto]

5. Liberals make lousy comedians (Not actually true)

But I think there is an element of truth in it - a lot of humor comes from unpleasantness, and being able to laugh at it. Even things like Slapstick involves people getting knocked around.

The liberal impulse when we see something bad or painful or unjust is to try and fix it (and thank goodness for that). So when we see something as cripplingly unjust as the status of women in Saudi Arabia, we want to fix it, improve it, protest it, fight against it, and the like. That's not to say we can't be funny -but humor is a tool in our toolbox, it's not the point. We aren't trying to make people laugh, we are trying to make people think and change (and then laugh).

But a comedians first instinct should be to make 'em laugh. Which is somewhat at odds with the instinct to fix the problem.

Obviously plenty of comedians are liberal though - comes from analyzing the situation. I think though, they are generally comedians first, and liberals second.

Bryant

[el_bryanto]

6. Also this is one of the few times I would argue that this might belong in GD

The way women are treated in Saudi Arabia is both a political and a religious. There are observant Muslim women all over the world including plenty in the US where, in many cases, they don't have to put up with this nonsense. Conditions in Saudi Arabia are such because of both politics and religion.

Bryant