Wadjda

"Not many feature films have been made in Saudi Arabia. Even more remarkable in a patriarchal, totalitarian society is Wadjda, the first Saudi film to be scripted and directed by a woman, Haifaa Al-Mansour. It’s a simple tale, boldly shot and simply told. Young Wadjda dreams of getting a bicycle and racing her best friend, Abdullah. No big deal for us, but for a girl in Riyadh, riding a bike and associating with boys are immoral acts."

"Al Mansour captures the isolation of Saudi women and their parallel lives of freedom at home and invisibility outside."

"Al-Mansour carefully dodges easy uplift, but her message of hope to future generations of Saudi women is clear."

"There’s lots of crowd-pleasing triumph at the end of Wadjda’s gauntlet."

"Finds room to maneuver between harsh realism and a more hopeful kind of storytelling. There is warmth as well as austerity."

"You'd need a heart of stone not to be won over by Wadjda"

"An object of stark beauty, an oasis of free-spirited cinema emerging from the desert."

"As simple and charming as you could wish for."