May 23rd, 7pm

director: Haifaa Al-Mansour

Arabic with German subtitles

 

“Wadjda” is the first Saudi-Arabian feature film. Director Haifaa Al Mansour tells the story of a girl who dreams of owning a bicycle in a society which doesn’t allow women to ride bikes.

Every day on her way to school, Wadjda passes by a storefront with a marvelous green bicycle. She absolutely has to have it! However, women are not allowed to ride bikes in Riad, Saudi-Arabia, where the young girl lives. But headstrong Wadjda makes plans on how to earn some money and buy the bike anyway. When she is caught selling mix tapes and friendship bracelets at her school, she is punished and there seems only one way left to achieve her goal: win the school’s big Koran recitation Award.

“Das Mädchen Wadjda” ist zugleich heiter und nachdenklich, packend und klug, zeitgemäß und brisant.