Growing up in a conservative environment, the funny and courageous ten-year-old Wadjda stretches the limits of the permissible. She’s prepared to go to great lengths to finally buy a bike, a vehicle reserved expressly for boys.
Ten-year-old Wadjda lives in Saudi Arabia. She likes to listen to love songs, wears All Stars trainers, paints her toe nails, wants to ride a bike and refuses to wear a veil. Unfortunately, most of these things are forbidden practices for girls in traditional Muslim societies. But Wadjda is rebellious and hard-headed. In order to race against her friend Abdullah, she needs a bike! When Wadjda's mother refuses to buy her one, the girl tries to find the money herself. She is prepared to do anything for a green bike, even participate in a Qu'ran recital competition, although schoolwork is the last thing on her mind. The task is challenging, but Wadjda is determined to realise her dream and help change the conservative rules of the society she lives in. The Green Bike is the first feature-length movie made by a female Saudi director.
“I’m so proud to have shot the first full-length feature ever filmed entirely inside the Kingdom. I come from a small town in Saudi Arabia where there are many girls like Wadjda who have big dreams, strong characters and so much potential. These girls can, and will, reshape and redefine our nation.” (Haifaa Al Mansour)
The first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia. She graduated in literature from the American University in Cairo and completed a Master’s degree in Directing and Film Studies at the University of Sydney. Within the Kingdom her work is both praised and vilified for encouraging discussion on topics generally considered taboo. She did not intend her films to examine women’s issues, but found them too important not to address.