Wadja would, in western terms, be a tom boy. In Riyadh, where she resides, Saudi custom has her hovering on heresy.

She determines to acquire a bike so she can drag off her male contemporaries. Women on wheels is a no-no in Saudi Arabia which presents a cycle-logical problem in Wadja’s perception of self and fair play.

Nice girls don’t ride in Riyadh but Wadja wants to challenge that and so when her request is denied by her parents she determines to make the money to buy one herself.

Ironically, she conceives to purchase the pushbike by winning a cash prize for a Koran recitation competition at her school. She devotes herself to the memorisation and recitation of Koranic verses, and her teachers begin to see Wadjda as a model pious girl.

An independent female with big dreams, strong character and so much potential, Wadja is the personification of the girls who will, hopefully, reshape and redefine Saudi Arabia, and she gives her name to this ground breaking film. WADJA’s director, Haifaa Al Mansour, is the first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia and is regarded as one of the most significant cinematic figures in the Kingdom. She completed a Master’s degree in Directing and Film Studies from the University of Sydney. Within the Saudi Arabia her work is both praised and vilified for encouraging discussion on topics generally considered taboo, like tolerance, the dangers of orthodoxy, and the need for Saudis to take a critical look at their traditional and restrictive culture.

Through WADJA, Al Mansour seeks to penetrate the wall of silence surrounding the sequestered lives of Saudi women and provides a powerful and informative platform for their unheard voices.

Central to the film’s success is twelve year old Waad Mohammed in the title role. Her performance as the pint-sized plucky, precocious pedaller is perfection.

Reem Abdullah as her put upon mother whose husband, Wadja’s father, is under pressure to take a second wife so as to sire a son, exudes a stoic resilience and strength in the face of a conservatively strict and misogynist culture.

WADJA is a deceptively simple story that weaves a complex themes into a rich tapestry. It’s a marvelous mosaic of a movie.