Why Saudi Arabia’s First Woman Director Only Makes Movies About Trailblazers

The heroines in Haifaa al-Mansour’s movies share the same antagonist: restrictive societies. Wadjda, the 1o-year-old Saudi protagonist of al-Mansour's first feature film, 2012's Wadjda, cleverly scrounges up money to buy a bike, despite being told bikes are forbidden for girls. Al-Mansour's follow-up film, Mary Shelley, may be a period piece set in 19th century England and France, but, like Wadjda, Mary is dissuaded from pursuing what she loves. Against all odds, Wadjda rides the bike, and Mary writes the book (and elopes, and has a scandalous life).

Al-Mansour is uniquely well suited to tell stories of women questioning society’s restrictions. As a girl in Saudi Arabia, Al-Mansour’s sense of the world was expanded while watching the movies available in her small town’s video store, like The Evil Dead and Snow White. “You feel you’re part of a bigger world every time you watch a movie,” she told Refinery29 on a recent phone call. With Wadjda, al-Mansour became the first person to ever shoot a movie within Saudi Arabia. She also became the country’s first woman director. Over the course of her career, Saudi Arabia’s policies toward the arts have loosened. This past April, the country lifted its 35-year ban on movie theaters. Black Panther became the first commercial film shown in Saudi theaters. Fittingly, al-Mansour's Mary Shelley will play in Saudi Arabia, too.

We sat down with al-Mansour to talk Mary Shelley, fierce protagonists, and the challenges of shooting a movie in Saudi Arabia.

Haifaa al-Mansour: "When they sent me the script, I wasn’t sure. I thought, 'She’s an Englishwoman, and it’s a period drama.' When I read the script, it was amazing to know more about her and see how much she struggled to have her own voice. I was embarrassed that I didn’t know much about her, even though I consider myself a feminist, and I was a literature major. I thought she needed that recognition. As women, we need to celebrate figures like her because it gives us a solid legacy to lean on when we’re moving forward. I felt immediately that I needed to tell her story."

"I’m sure she was expected to write something like Jane Austen. Even if people didn’t say it, that kind of literature is what they expected from a woman. But she excelled and did something totally different on her own — something that remains original today."

"In more conservative societies, women are supposed to carry the honor of the family. I think it’s important for women to rebel, even if it’s hard. It’s [how] to pave the way forward for the generations to come. When women do something for the first time, they go one step that all women can take, going forward. But not everybody can pay the price. A lot of people don’t want to. That’s why we have people who are willing to challenge those norms and open the doors. That’s why we need to recognize them. It is hard to go that way."

"Definitely. I know what it means to be dismissed. I know what it means to be underestimated and taken for granted. It hurts. I felt that —when I made movies in Saudi Arabia, people were laughing because we don’t have any films. It was like a joke.

"I did some writing in the description of the third act when Mary goes to the publisher and is spoken down to. This is something that felt very modern and current. Women being dismissed happened a really long time ago, and it’s still happening."

"I’m not worried about the police coming and stopping me. Or worrying that this is a conservative neighborhood, and we need to leave very quickly. Mary Shelley wasn't that kind of challenge. But we had different kinds of challenges, too, like the weather, and our shoot was fragmented because of financing. But it’s not like being so stressed and having the weight of censorship on your shoulder. I was grateful to enjoy being on set with the actors and enjoy the creative part."

"Yes, in September. We’re shooting a film called The Perfect Candidate. It’s about a young female doctor who decides to run for politics. It’s a segregated culture, so of course she’s not allowed to interact with people. Instead, she has to do conference calls. I’m really excited to start casting very soon."

"Now, they opened cinemas in Saudi Arabia. Before, movie theaters were illegal. I think Saudi is moving a lot toward being a normal country. When I was growing up, listening to music was forbidden. They would tell you in school if you listened to music you’d go straight to hell because music corrupts your soul. Now, music is celebrated everywhere, there are movie theaters, and women will start driving soon. There’s so much happening. Saudi Arabia is becoming a more normal country. It’s important for a country like Saudi Arabia to be normal. It sets a tone for the rest of the Muslim world, and hopefully that will encourage more tolerance. We need a lot more music and films and fun in that part of the world."

"I’m excited about bringing films from Saudi and helping your filmmakers make stories about themselves and the world they come from. Hopefully, we make stories about people that the world can appreciate and can make us more tolerant."

Mary Shelley is in theaters now.