Saudi’s Only Woman Filmmaker Challenges Strict Norms
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Author: Daily Times (Pakistan), July 20, 2004
Released 23 July 2004
There are no cinemas in her country, no film industry and scant liberties for women in this kingdom where an austere brand of Islam prevails.
Despite this Saudi Arabian filmmaker Haifaa al-Mansour has managed to write and direct three short films, which have won international acclaim.
"I was lucky to have started my work at this time. So far, I haven’t been opposed from any official institutions and people are willing to listen to what I have to say," said the 31-year-old graduate of the American University in Cairo. "After September 11 and the latest violence it has become more pertinent to make use of the arts and address the issues facing us," she added, referring to the 2001 attacks on US cities carried out mainly by Saudi militants loyal to Al Qaeda leader, Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.
For the past year, the kingdom has also been battling Al Qaeda, which is bent on toppling the pro-US monarchy and turning the country into even stricter Islamic state.
Mansour’s films, which criticise social norms in the ultra-conservative country, coincided with increased international and domestic pressure to introduce political reforms in the largely tribal kingdom.
One of 12 siblings of middle-class, relatively liberal parents - her father is a retired legal consultant and her mother is a social worker - Mansour is no stranger to going against the grain.
She was sent to study outside the kingdom in Egypt, a privilege normally reserved for wealthy Saudi males.
"My father was himself a student in Egypt and had no qualms about sending me to study and live there on my own," Mansour said.
She earned a degree in literature in 1997 and returned to Saudi Arabia where she now works as an analyst for an oil firm.
But a few years ago her creative instincts kicked in and she started taking a correspondence filmmaking course offered by the New York Film Institute. Mansour’s job foots some of the bills of her newfound passion. "I go to festivals, meet other Arab female directors and producers and it feels wonderful. Doing what I do makes me happier and more satisfied than I’ve ever been," she said.
As the kingdom’s only female filmmaker, she sees film as agent of change, which is a central theme of her latest production, "The Only Way Out". It tells the story of three Saudi engineers - a liberal, a religious fundamentalist and a third man with no set ideology —whose car breaks down.
The men find themselves stuck with each other and soon find themselves at loggerheads about their different views.
"It shows the clash of ideas in modern Saudi Arabia and the need for dialogue and tolerance. We’re not a homogenous society but one with rich diversity," Mansour said.
The film was lauded at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, won best script in a film competition in the neighbouring Gulf state of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and was screened in the United States and Turkey.
A segment of the film was also aired on the state-funded Al Ikhbariya channel and received rave reviews in local newspapers.
The lack of a film industry in Saudi Arabia and the stringent social restrictions on women have affected Mansour’s work. Women are forbidden to drive, work, travel, open a bank account or run a business without permission from a male guardian.
Currently seeking financing and actresses to star in her fourth film that will focus on Saudi women, she says she is determined to champion social change. reuters
Haifaa al-Mansour works for Saudi Aramco.