Haifaa Al Mansour

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Film

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The first film by a woman in Saudi Arabia exposes a kingdom where women have few rights. Director Haifaa Al Mansour doesnt play by its rules, discovers Alexander Bisley.
her abaya [full-length, sleeveless outer garment] with her hair flying. She made us see what a woman can be. Her fathers encouragement and her mothers boldness helped pave the way for Mansours success. Their daughter, 39, has just been named by Arabian Business the second most powerful woman in the Arab world. Shes also the countrys best-known director, and the first woman in Saudi Arabia to make a full-length feature film. Internationally acclaimed Wadjda has as its eponymous heroine a fearless 11-year-old girl, who desperately desires a shiny new bicycle so she can ride around with Abdullah, a boy from her neighbourhood. Its a narrative clearly inspired by Mansours childhood longings. Except theres one significant difference: the bike is out of reach for Wadjda, her mother hemmed in by a society that views cycling as morally improper for girls.

aifaa Al Mansours father once bought her a green bike, despite the shopkeepers objections. (Girls shouldnt ride, he protested.) My father was an amazing guy, says Mansour of the man who also encouraged her to attend university. Like my mother, he came from a small Saudi town, but I never thought when I was at home that there were things my brother could do and things I couldnt do because I was a girl. The father of 12 attentively encouraged her dreams. I told him I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. He was like: Yeah, you can do it. You just need to work and study very hard. He taught me that I needed to believe in myself. Mansours mother, on the other hand, embarrassed her though later in life that pluck became her inspiration. My mother doesnt really abide by any rules: she wouldnt cover fully shed turn up at my school without

ike her films central character, the Bahrain-based filmmaker and mother-of-two refused to give up. It took her more than five years to bring the story to the big screen, during which time she contacted every production company working in the Middle East. No one replied, except eventual producers Gerhard Meixner and Roman Paul (Waltz With Bashir). A lot of artists complain about the limited space they have, rather than trying to find ways to say what they want within that space,she reflects philosophically, though shes under no illusions about the struggle faced by female artists in the Middle East: In a place like Saudi Arabia, its sometimes hard for women to follow their dreams and do what they love, because of the social pressure. Saudi Arabia is, of course, widely considered one of the most repressive countries in the world for women: it ranks 130 out of 134 countries for gender parity according to the 2009 World Economic Forum, and the Global Gender Gap Report scored it zero in the political empowerment category (though King Abdullah has since declared women may vote in the 2015 elections). Women are not allowed to drive or tell men what to do in public. Whats more, movie theatres are illegal; Wadjda was the first film to be completely shot on location there. It was a family affair. Her sister held the camera, and her nephew and brother acted significant roles. I think its about time to move away from showing victims coming from the Middle East, says Mansour. People sometimes patronise. Its about time to show how people can be masters of their own destiny, how they can steer their life, and create their own happiness. Shes no fan of the cultural relativism thats chic in some Western universities, preferring to strike a more universal note. I think people are very similar all over the world, and I think we need to concentrate on those similarities and embrace the human values that bring us all together. That said, Wadjda illuminates the marked Saudi divide between the public and private. Theres a huge distinction [between the two]. In public, Saudis are very serious they dont smile, they have to wear certain things, and they move in a certain way. But at home, theres a lot of love and flirting. People should give up that public side. Its a very tribal society; people seek the approval from the collective. About two-thirds of Saudi Arabias population are below the age of 25, which gives Mansour hope. Many have watched her film online. They have hashtags on Twitter, she says. Twitter is huge in Saudi theyre asking for cinemas, they joke about the fact that theyre

the only country in the world that doesnt have movie theatres. Well see movie theatres, well see women driving, and well see a lot of changes in Saudi very soon; within the next five years, for sure I think if you want to change people, you have to change their hearts. That doesnt happen overnight: it takes time.

ild change is already stirring. Its now legal for women and girls to ride bicycles, albeit in limited areas. Protests have been staged against the driving ban. And Mansour sees some relaxation where face-covering is concerned. When I was in high school, I wasnt able to go to the mall without covering my face. If I didnt cover my face, then the police would come after me and harass me about it. But now I can go to the mall in Saudi with some hair showing and without my face covered. The director studied literature in Cairo, and did her Masters in film at the University of Sydney. She met her Californian diplomat husband, Brad, at a Riyadh American Embassy Q&A after a screening of her documentary Women in the Shadows he was working in the Kingdom as the USAs cultural attach. Their

A scene from Haifaa Al Mansours Wadjda.

children are American, because only men can get Saudi Arabian citizenship transferred. [But] I hope one day they can be Saudis, too. There is clearly real affection for Saudi Arabia, and Mansour is adamant her frequent visits there pose no danger. I think a lot of conservatives dont like that I come and make films, and make films about women, she says, but I dont think Im in danger in any way. I used to get a lot of violent hate mail and text messages threatening to kill me. [But] its become less.

The progressive Middle Eastern tradition of affecting change through art as represented by Iranian film directors like AsgharFarhadi (The Past) and Jafar Panahi (Offside) has inspired the filmmaker, who admires their adeptness at juggling cultural mores. Iranians are very clever in putting forward ideas, but still being accepted back home, she says. They have to deal with a lot of pressures and constraints every day that are similar to what we have in Saudi Arabia. Its a very important, amazing school to learn from. The Iranians manage to bring forward powerful art, art that says a lot about their world and where they come from. They use the limitations of their situation to their benefit, rather than resorting to not making art at all. And what of Middle Eastern countries like Tunisia and Egypt, which appear to be going backwards in terms of womens rights? Im very hopeful those countries will go forward and embrace values that not only empower women, but also democracy, freedom of expression, freedom for artists: what makes a society worth living in.
Wadjda is playing in cinemas now.

18 SUNDAY 06.04.14

Photographs: Supplied

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