Sony Pictures Classics has bought all North American rights to Haifaa Al Mansour‘s Wadjda, a landmark drama that is both the first-ever feature made by a female Saudi Arabian filmmaker, and the first film shot entirely within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The drama was well received at its world premiere during the 2012 Venice Film Festival and debuted in North America at the Telluride Film Festival, where it was first screened by Sony Pictures.
Written and directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, Wadjda is the story of a 10-year-old girl, Wadjda, who challenges deep-rooted Saudi traditions in her quest to buy a bike and sees one last chance in her school’s Koran recitation competition and the cash prize for first place.
Haifaa Al-Mansour said:
I come from a small town in Saudi Arabia, a country where showing movies in public is illegal. To write and direct the first film ever to be shot inside Saudi Arabia, with one of the leading companies in Europe, Razor Films, was beyond my wildest dreams. To premiere my film at the Venice Film Festival was even more incredible, and now to have Sony Classics bring the film to North America, the place from where I first saw the power and emotional possibilities of film, is beyond anything I ever could have imagined.
SPC added:
Wadjda captivated audiences in Telluride in a spectacular, richly rewarding way. For the first time we are seeing a movie from that part of the world and it’s a great movie. When we met the director Haifaa and the producers Roman and Gerhard, we knew instantly we were a perfect match all around.
Jay Weissberg praised the film and Waad Mohammed‘s performance in the lead role at Venice.
SPC plans a 2013 theatrical release.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsR7DXv4dpI[/youtube]
