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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Davidson Film Club Presents “Wadjda”

by | Jan 14, 2020 | Arts & Entertainment, Davidson Film Club, Nonprofits

The DFC is pleased to present “Wadjda,” the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi-Arabia, and the first made by a female Saudi filmmaker (in a country where cinemas are banned) on Saturday, January 18, at the Armour Street Theatre at 7:00 p.m.

“A staggeringly assured cine-essay on female self-determination.” PJ Nabarro

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 99%!

Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour. Saudi-Arabia (2012, 1h38). In Arabic w/English subtitles.

Discussion of the film will be led by Dr. Rebecca Joubin, Chair of Arab Studies at Davidson College.

If you are not a Davidson Film Club member, walk-ins ($9, NC Sales tax included) are always welcome, cash or check at the door, space allowing. Walk-in students $7.

*Walk-ins: Please note that reservations should be made in advance at [email protected]. Walk-ins without reservations are welcome but may have to be seated after members and those with reserved tickets to avoid overcrowding (fire marshal regulations).

Refreshments (red and white wine, bottled water, and popcorn) will be made available by the Film Club.

Film Summary:

Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with a neighborhood boy she shouldn’t be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat the boy in a race. But Wadjda’s mother won’t allow it, since bicycles are seen as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. So Wadjda decides to try and raise the money herself by running various schemes at school. She hears of a cash prize for a Quran recitation competition at her school. She devotes herself to her preparation. . .

22 wins and 34 nominations, including a nomination at the BAFTA awards for Best Film not in the English Language, three Director’s prizes at the Venice Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Prizes for Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Film, Best First Feature Film, Best Actress, Freedom of Expression Award, and Best Foreign Film by or About Women.

“Transgressive in the best possible way, Wadjda presents a startlingly assured new voice from a corner of the globe where cinema has been all but silenced.” Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus

“It’s a provocative but credible premise and in exploring it, Al Mansour has come up with an engagingly subversive character. Wadjda is a delight.” Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald

“Something kind of radical, a quiet rebuke of repressive religious values that make no sense in a modern world.” Matthew Lucas, From the Front Row

“Wadjda is unstoppable, and the character will no doubt serve to empower many young Saudi girls.” Bernard Boo, Way Too Indie

“Though people will talk about how it breaks boundaries and how pioneering it is, that’s not what you most need to know. What you most need to know is that it’s fascinating, involving, moving, an entirely excellent film in its own right.” Deborah Ross, The Spectator

Our website www.davidsonfilmclub.com features the whole current series and film descriptions. Have you Bookmarked it?

We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization run by volunteers that only exists to bring you fine international fiction films and engage in stimulating discussion about them.

Hope to see many of you on Saturday, January 18, at the screening of this captivating film!

Alan Singerman
Richardson Professor Emeritus of French, Davidson College
President, Davidson Film Club
[email protected]
(336) 751-2746

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