Recommended for GCSE, AS and A2 or equivalent level Arabic
This Arabic study day will be built around a screening of Wadjda. Students will watch a full screening of the film which will be followed by a series of Arabic GCSE and AS/A2 level language exercises based on the film’s main characters and using the themes of home, family, individuality and self confidence, and cultural diversity. Study session activities will be in Arabic.
Led by Abdul Wahab, Arabic Lecturer at the University of Manchester
Screening: Wadjda (PG)
Dir Haifaa Al-Mansour / Saudia Arabia 2012 / 95 mins / In Arabic with English Subtitles / Reem Abdullah / Waad Mohammed / Abdullrahman Al Gohani
Haifa Al-Mansour’s debut feature is a realist gem, which throws a spotlight on the domestic lives and daily challenges faced by Saudi Arabian women. Set in Riyadh, the film centres on ten-year-old tomboy Wadjda who longs for freedoms that are well beyond her reach. When her mother refuses to buy Wadjda a bicycle for fear of her young daughter’s modesty, Wadjda defiantly sets out to raise the money herself.
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