Haifaa Al-Mansour is the first female director originally from Saudi Arabia. After debuting in 2012 at the Venice Film Festival with Wadjda, she returns to the big screen with an animated film: Miss Camel.
In a country like Saudi Arabia, where artistic expression is anything but free, the first Saudi female director Haifaa Al-Mansour continues to be at the center of many critics. Nominated by the government among the 13 members of the Council – in charge of supervising the cultural and artistic development of the country – the filmmaker’s fame is widespread, and her name is increasing its presence all around the world.
After making several short films and documentaries, Haifaa Al-Mansour debuted internationally with the presentation at the 2012 Venice Film Festival of her debut work, Wadjda. The film tells the story of Wadjda, a 10-year-old girl who lives on the outskirts of Riyadh. Enterprising, affectionate and decisive, Wadjda tries to overcome the limits of the traditionalist culture that imprisons the Saudi capital.
After the debut, the director was involved in other projects, such as the creation of the biopic on the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley. Now Haifaa Al-Mansour is ready to return to the big screen with an ambitious project: the animated film Miss Camel, financed with an awarded funding won at the IWC Filmmaker Award of about 100 thousand dollars and the support of the Shadow Machine animation workshop. It is the story of a Saudi adolescent, Hayla, who tries to escape from the country to avoid the marriage arranged by her family and achieve the dream of attending an art school. During her cousin’s wedding, Hayla will discover that she is able to talk to animals.
