Acclaimed Saudi cinema pioneer Haifaa Al-Mansour took to the stage at the Saudi Film Festival on Wednesday night to accept a special award, praising the “Herculean efforts” of the Kingdom’s Cinema Association. “This honor means a lot to me — not only because it is a Saudi festival that celebrates locals’ voices and stems from Ithra, a place that supports us as Saudi filmmakers, and the Cinema Association for all of their Herculean efforts — but because I’m a girl from Sharqiya,” Al-Mansour said on stage.
Award Ceremony at Ithra
Held at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, known as Ithra, this year’s SFF theme is, fittingly, “Cinema of the Journey,” and what a journey Al-Mansour has been on. As one of the leading pioneers in Saudi and Arab cinema, her distinctive cinematic voice has helped to shape the contemporary film scene in the Kingdom. Born in nearby Al-Ahsa, her first films were created just a short distance from the Ithra headquarters, starting with her short film “Who?” in 1997.
Al-Mansour's Career and Achievements
Armed with degrees in comparative English literature from the American University in Cairo and a master’s degree in film studies from the University of Sydney in Australia, she transitioned to filmmaking, where she has been for the past few decades. “This place (Dhahran) certainly knew my beginning, and I’m ecstatic that this honor comes directly from people–peers, who are more than brothers to me — I was raised amongst them,” she continued to warm applause, as she thanked Ahmed Al-Mulla, founder and director of the Saudi Film Festival and others in the industry.
Al-Mansour is best known for her historic 2012 breakthrough debut feature film “Wadjda” in which we see a young girl yearning to ride a bicycle at a time when it was taboo. marking a turning point in Saudi cinema as the first feature film shot entirely in the Kingdom. It was also the first Saudi film to be submitted for the Academy Awards in the preliminary selection for Best Foreign Language Film in 2013. Al-Mansour continued her career directing local and international films and television and was also selected to serve on the jury of several international festivals, including at the Cannes Film Festival 2015.
