First Movie Filmed in Saudi Arabia By a Female Director Looks Great

To make the movie, the filmmaker Haifaa Al-Mansour dealt with the kind of obstacles that would make an entertaining movie itself: because men and women are not allowed to interact in public in Saudi Arabia, she says “It was a major obstacle to go out in the street and talk to my actors.”

Al-Mansour was previously a host for a show on Saudi Arabian television that, translated to English is called More Than a Woman. She eventually moved into short films and in an interview with Al Jazeera, explained that she feels she actually has an advantage over men trying to making movies in the Middle East:

“I really didn’t want people to say ‘Because she’s a woman, she’s only talking about woman’s issues.’ But when I did my documentary and it was about women, I was amazed about how it touched lots of women…It’s like an area that people don’t have a chance to get into, especially in Saudi Arabia. It’s difficult for a male filmmaker to break into this secluded world and have the same opportunities I had.”