A 10-year-old girl longs for a bicycle. It sounds simple, but the law in her country forbids her from riding this vehicle. She decides to trample on the law, to mock the adults, to deflect the principal of the school from her path. She is even willing never to become pregnant because that is the punishment visited on any girl riding a bicycle, a punishment from the Heavens, according to what she is told. Holy religious personages are grotesque in her eyes, but when she gets the opportunity to exploit the Quran to collect more money for her supreme goal, she does not hesitate to take advantage of it.
Will this girl succeed in realizing her dream? Her campaign for the yearned-for moment is the hub of the plot of the Saudi film Wadjda that arouses much interest around the world. The movie also reached Israel, but in contrast to isolated works from the Arab cinema that are screened here every few years, Wadjda was played in the large movie houses, accompanied by an aggressive public relations campaign.
Even without connection to its being screened in Israel, Wadjda is a trailblazing film. It is the work of female Saudi director Haifaa al-Mansour, in a country lacking an active film industry. For the last 40 years, there have been no movie theaters in the kingdom. When Saudis wanted to view a film, they hopped over to neighboring countries. Saudi film tourism is lucrative in Bahrain. And so, Israelis are allowed to enjoy the film in the movie theater while the Saudis are not.
Israeli viewers can enjoy this special film only by virtue of German involvement in its production. The German producer has no political hindrances, contrary to the Saudis, to selling distribution rights to the Israelis. An accusation of cultural cooperation with the Zionists is the last thing that Mansour needs, considering that many in her homeland are revolted by her entire project. She was forced to do some of the filming in secret, so as not to be seen publicly with men. She sat in a commercial vehicle, opposite the monitor, and shouted her directing instructions to the crew that filmed outside.
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