Salle seadawn4coda

This movie is incredibly hopeful and healing. Al Franken changed the world's attitude toward 12 Step fellowships and made Alison Janney's Mom possible on network TV. Thanks to Al, Harold and the crew who knew we needed them before we knew it.

Wadjda is a fairy tale of commerce, desire, and fulfillment. Ten year old Wadjda just wants a bicycle, but girls are forbidden to own or ride them. She fetches and carries for pay, makes bracelets to sell. and tries to win the prize money for the bike in a contest of Quran memorization. Her friend, the boy that she wants to win a bicycle race against, is smitten with her. The teachers and principal of her girls' school are frustrated by her spirit that will not be broken by the "rules" for women in Saudi Arabia. Both that this is a creation of a first time female director and it is the first full-length movie made entirely inside Saudi Arabia make this magnetic film shine brighter. As a marvelous glimpse into the life of the country and the women in it, and the girls who will become women in it, this film sparkles through the haze of dust on everything.

Clearly, inexpensively made while being extremely engaging, this movie was quick, Quixotic, and totally hypnotic. I loved it. And it was filmed and around my town, with respect. Enjoy it. I did.