Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. Wadjda’s mother won’t allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. So Wadjda decides to try and raise the money herself. Soon enough, Wadjda’s plans are thwarted when she is caught running various schemes at school. Just as she is losing hope of raising enough money, she hears of a cash prize for a Koran recitation competition at her school. She devotes herself to the memorization and recitation of Koranic verses, determined to continue fighting for her dreams. Wadjda is the first feature length film to be shot completely in Saudi Arabia, as well as the first feature film made by a female Saudi director
Study Guide Themes Archives: Coming of Age
The Visitor
Walter, s widower college professor, travels to New York City to speak at an academic conference and discovers a swindler has rented his apartment to a young, illegal immigrant couple. The two nearly leave but Walter convinces them to stay, and a friendship develops between the trio as they learn to get by together.
Violet Perfume
Unhappy with her family life, teenager Yessica finds solace in a close friendship with shy Miriam. But when Yessica is raped by her step-brother and his friend, her despair overwhelms her, leading to tragic consequences.
Valentin
Eight year old Valentin lives with his grandmother in Buenos Aires in the late 1960s. Valentin dreams of becoming an astronaut, finding a new wife for his absent father and of being reunited with his missing mother. While caught in the middle of his family, he attempts to better the bewildering world around him.This heartwarming (and at times heartbreaking) tale follows the smart and resourceful Valentin, as he reacts to and observes the troubled individuals he encounters.
Unknown Soldier
Bright, friendly and bubbling with hormones, Ellison is a typical Harlem teenager. He gets into good-natured mischief with his pals, stealing dogs and sneaking into amusement parks, and has a playful sexual tug-of- war with his girlfriend Tande. But when his father dies of a sudden heart attack, Ellison is evicted from their apartment and forced to grow up far too soon. Without relatives, he quickly runs out of friends’ houses to stay in and finds himself homeless and desperate. He declines a job with local drug dealer and longtime acquaintance Zee, but after being refused by the Army (asthma) and victimized in a homeless shelter, Ellison is out of options. As Zee’s personal assistant, he’s entrusted with harmless tasks which slowly give way to dangerous assignments that leave him desperate for a way out. Ferenc Toth’s astounding debut won Best Narrative Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
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