About this event

Wadjda (Waad Mohammed) is a schoolgirl in Riyadh who wears Converse under her abaya, sells mixtapes and friendship bracelets in the playground, and wants exactly one thing: the green bicycle in the toy shop, so she can race the boy next door. Girls aren’t supposed to ride bikes, and her mother won’t buy it - so when the school announces a Quran recitation competition with a cash prize, Wadjda signs up and starts cramming. Meanwhile her mother (Reem Abdullah) is quietly fighting her own battle, with a husband looking for a second wife. “Wadjda” (2012) was the first feature ever shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, and the first directed by a Saudi woman. Haifaa al-Mansour sometimes had to direct from inside a van over a walkie-talkie, unable to be seen working in public alongside the male crew. None of that struggle shows in the finished film, which comes across warm, funny and sharp-eyed rather than angry. It went on to become Saudi Arabia’s first-ever Oscar submission and earned a BAFTA nomination. Dana Stevens of Slate called it “a slyly subversive delight” and one of her favorite films of the year, while Violet Lucca of Film Comment said this visually accomplished first feature about Saudi women’s lives lives up to the hype. Tuesday, November 17 | Doors 6PM, Film 8PM TicTic, Phnom Penh Free entry & popcorn - arrive early for sofa, bed, or beanbag seating