Haifaa al-mansour biography samples
THE TRUTH MATTERS
How bad does this get? At the end of the movie, Mary’s father brings together a group of people at his bookshop – ostensibly to celebrate the publication of Frankenstein but actually to allow for a staged confession by Percy. Like so many of the scenes in the film, this never happened. But who cares, this is Hollywood, right?
SPOILER ALERT
Settle in, boys and girls, here is how our fairy tale ends. Mary, tipped off to the meeting by her father, sneaks into the gathering unobserved and hides in a corner. Godwin thanks the assembled throng of aged, whiskered, white males for coming. He notes that the novel was published anonymously. It is further alleged that Percy capitalized on this by writing a signed introduction which he knew would invite the world to conclude he had written the novel. To underline this point, al-Mansour manufactures a meeting that NEVER happened. She imagines Mary and Polidori coming together to console one another: Percy is point blank accused of stealing the credit for Frankenstein and Byron for stealing the credit for Polidori's book, The Vampyre.
Godwin then offers a precis of the novel which incredibly casts Percy in the role of Victor Frankenstein and Mary in the role of the monster. He says it is a novel about:
“…the absolute necessity for human connection. From the moment Dr. Frankenstein’s creature opens its eyes it seeks the touch of its creator, but he recoils in terror leaving the creature to the first of its many experiences of neglect and isolation. And if only Frankenstein had been able to bestow upon his creation a compassionate touch, a kind word, what a tragedy might have been avoided.”
Wow. Just wow. At this point Percy slips into the room to applause. He pauses for dramatic effect, makes eye contact with Mary and begins:
“I know many of you wonder who could have written this horrific tale and why it was published anonymously. I see some of you suggest theA revealing look at The critically acclaimed new movie Wadjda is not just the first feature-length motion picture filmed exclusively in Saudi Arabia—it’s the first one made by a Saudi woman.
“I wanted to make a film that is transparent about the culture—because I know a lot of people don’t know what it is like in Saudi Arabia, or what Saudi Arabia looks like,” says Haifaa Al Mansour, writer/director of the film. It tells the story of a precocious schoolgirl named Wadjda (a character inspired by Al Mansour’s niece and played by first-time film actress Waad Mohammed), a Riyadh native who dreams of bucking social convention and buying a bicycle for herself. The movie has been making international news lately not so much for its festival honors or its acclaim, but for how it was made, and the hurdles that had to be cleared.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not going to be mistaken for a hotbed of social liberalism or political reform any time soon. Conditions and rights for women in the country have long been a disaster and moral outrage, although there are signs ofsome possible liberalization down the road. The kingdom operates as a repressive and strictly, and often brutally, religious society. There is virtually no Saudi film industry to speak of—no public funds, no film festivals, barely any infrastructure—and movie theaters are almost entirely banned. (The Arab nation does pour a lot of money into television and soap operas, however.)
“People want to know how you make films in a conservative culture like [Saudi Arabia],” says Al Mansour, whose previous work includes the short film The Bitter Journey and the documentary Women Without Shadows. “My mother asked me—and she’s Saudi—’How did you film that?’ My mother! And she’s from a small town, and she understands the culture.”
Most movies are hard to make; this was a whole different realm of tough. It took five
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D: Haifaa Al-Mansour / 97m
Cast: Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd, Sultan Al Assaf, Alanoud Sajini, Rafa Al Sanea, Dana Abdullilah, Rehab Ahmed, Nouf Saad, Ibrahim Almozael, Mohammed Zahir, Sara Aljaber
Wadjda (Mohammed) is an eleven year old girl living with her mother (Abdullah) in Riyadh. She regularly undermines the rules and restrictions of the school she attends, and remains unconvinced that the demands of the Qu’ran are at all necessary. She is friends with a boy, Abdullah (Al Gohani), who lives opposite her, but they have a bit of a combative friendship. When he mischievously steals her headscarf while riding his bike, Wadjda chases after him. This leads to her challenging him to a race when she has her own bike. However, the idea of girls riding bikes is frowned upon and Wadjda’s mother refuses to buy her one. But when Wadjda sees a green bike, she determines to buy it herself.
When her entrepreneurial activities at the school are curtailed by the headmistress, Ms Hussa (Ahd), Wadjda is unsure how she will raise the 800 riyals she needs to purchase the bike. Meanwhile, her mother is struggling to retain the attention of her husband and Wadjda’s father (Al Assaf); he is planning to marry a second time but Wadjda’s mother is convinced he won’t go through with it. Back at the school, Ms Hussa announces there’s to be a Qu’ran recital competition, one that carries a first prize of 1,000 riyals. Although she has little interest or knowledge in the Qu’ran, Wadjda joins the Religious Club and begins to learn sections of the Qu’ran by heart as well as the meaning of certain words and phrases. She gains the respect of Ms Hussa, and helps Abdullah when he asks to string some lights from his house to hers in aid of his uncle’s political election campaign (even though her mother is against it). While Abdullah works on the lights, Wadjda learns to ride on
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“Wadjda” director Haifaa Al Mansour