Haifaa Al-Mansour
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Haifaa al-Mansour ( ar, هيفاء المنصور ''Hayfā’a al-Manṣūr''; born 10 August 1974), is a Saudi Arabian film director. She is one of the country's best-known and most controversial directors, and the first female Saudi filmmaker.Joan Dupont.
Saudi filmmakers come out of the shadows
. International Herald Tribune, 14 December 2006 .


Early life and education

Haifaa is the eighth (out of twelve) children of the poet Abdul Rahman Mansour, who introduced her to films by video, there being no movie theaters in Saudi Arabia between 1983 and 2018.Danna Harman.
Middle Eastern Female Filmmakers Give Glimpse of Once-Veiled Worlds
March 10, 2008.
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/
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.
One of her favourite actors was
Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
. She is from
Al Zulfi Az Zulfi (also Zulfi, Zulfy City or Al Zulfi or Az Zilfi) is a city in Riyadh Province in central Saudi Arabia, about 260 kilometres northwest of Riyadh. It is connected by Roads 418 and 535 which both link with the main Highway 65 which connect ...
but grew up in Al-Hasa. Although her town was conservative, her father would go to a Blockbuster and grab any films that were available and bring them back home for their large family to enjoy together. Since cinema was banned in Saudi Arabia, Haifaa and her family received lots of judgment and threats from the people in her conservative town, but this never stopped her father from raising her and the other children to do things they felt passionate about. Although she grew up in a liberal family with non-traditional parents, her mother still had expectations for Haifaa to have a prestigious career. Her mother really wanted her to become a doctor, but that did not work out for Haifaa. She also tried becoming an engineer, but that also did not happen. With her father's encouragement, she studied comparative literature at
The American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...
. Although she enjoyed studying literature, this was not for her. She experienced disappointment from her mother since she did not become a doctor, engineer, or professor, but ultimately her mother wanted her to be happy the same way she was. Haifaa’s mother had a passion for singing, but was not allowed to be a singer growing up. Because she was non-traditional and a popular singer in the town, she would sing at gatherings and Haifaa would be so embarrassed. Over time, Haifaa learned that her mother was courageous and did not care what other people thought of her.  Her mother taught her defiance, integrity, and genuineness, and that is why Haifaa eventually chased her dream. After school, Haifaa worked at an oil company and taught English, but still nothing was satisfying her craving for something she was passionate about. She later completed a master's degree in Film Studies from
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...
, Australia. She never thought in a million years that she would become a filmmaker one day, but felt that she could do anything she set her mind to as long as she had the support of her family, especially her father. After the first short film she made with her family about a mysterious serial killer who wore a niqāb, Haifaa was very surprised that it was accepted by a film festival. For the first time in her life, she felt that people finally noticed her and listened to her.


Career

She began her filmmaking career with three
shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...
, ''Who?'', ''The Bitter Journey'' and ''The Only Way Out''. ''The Only Way Out'' won prizes in the United Arab Emirates and in the Netherlands. She followed these with the documentary ''Women Without Shadows'', which deals with the hidden lives of women in Arab States of the Persian Gulf. It was shown at 17 international festivals. The film received the Golden Dagger for Best Documentary in the
Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...
Film Festival and a special jury mention in the fourth
Arab Film Festival The Arab Film Festival (AFF) is the flagship program of the Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI) a nonprofit organization that hosts the largest and longest-running independent Arab film festival in the United States. It is held in California each ...
in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
. Haifaa al-Mansour was a guest at the 28th
Three Continents Festival The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Nantes, France. Her feature debut, ''
Wadjda ''Wadjda'' ( ar, وجدة, translit=Wajda, ) is a 2012 Saudi Arabian drama film, written and directed by Haifaa al-Mansour (in her feature directorial debut). It was the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and the first feature-lengt ...
'', which she wrote as well as directed, made its world premiere at the 2012 Venice Film Festival; it is the first full-length feature to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and as of 2013, the only feature-length film made in Saudi Arabia by a female director. ''Wadjda'' tells the story of a 10-year-old girl growing up in the suburbs of
Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...
, who dreams of owning and riding a green bicycle. ''Wadjda'' took five years to be made because of the typical constraints and challenges Haifaa went through to get this film out into the world. The segregation of men and women in Saudi Arabia forced her to direct this film in a van. She would be in a tight van with a monitor and walkie-talkie yelling at people and telling them what to do. She said it was a very difficult and frustrating experience but the most important thing to her was that she was the first female Saudi Arabian filmmaker who created the first feature film, fully filmed in Saudi Arabia.The film was backed by Rotana, the film production company of Prince
Al-Waleed bin Talal Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud ( ar, الوليد بن طلال آل سعود; born 7 March 1955) is a Saudi Arabian billionaire businessman, investor, philanthropist and royal. He was listed on ''Time'' magazine's Time 100, an annual list of the hu ...
. ''
Wadjda ''Wadjda'' ( ar, وجدة, translit=Wajda, ) is a 2012 Saudi Arabian drama film, written and directed by Haifaa al-Mansour (in her feature directorial debut). It was the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and the first feature-lengt ...
'' was selected as the Saudi Arabian entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the 86th Academy Awards, which is the first time Saudi Arabia has submitted a film for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. The project had been developed in 2009 during the Gulf screenwriting lab, a collaboration between
TorinoFilmLab TorinoFilmLab (TFL) is a Turin-based laboratory that primarily supports persons working on their first and second fiction feature films. Its four main fields of involvement are training, development, funding and distribution. TorinoFilmLab runs se ...
and
Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announc ...
. Seven years later, she made her fourth feature film, ''The Perfect Candidate'', in 2019 which was the first feature film to be supported by the new national Saudi Film Council. She did not intend that her film work focus on women's issues, but found them too important to not address. Both ''Who?'' and ''Women Without Shadows'' deal with the custom of
abaya The abaya "cloak" ( colloquially and more commonly, ar, عباية ', especially in Literary Arabic: '; plural ', '), sometimes also called an ''aba'', is a simple, loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, worn by some women in par ...
. She has received
hate mail Hate mail (as electronic, posted, or otherwise) is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient. Hate mail often contains exceptionally abusive, foul or otherwi ...
and criticism for being unreligious, which she denies. She does, however, feel that Saudi Arabia needs to take a more critical view of its culture. She also received praise from Saudis for encouraging discussion on topics usually considered taboo.Najah Al Osaimi.
Haifa Film Creates a Stir
” ‘’Arab News’’. 21 April 2005.
Haifaa often makes films about strong, independent, and resilient women because she is that kind of woman too. Haifaa luckily had her supportive family, but those that surrounded her maintained the conservative politics in that town and condemned her for seeking film when it was haram (forbidden in Islamic religion). Regardless, she did what she loved and continued making films about women who wanted to change the way women in Saudi Arabia are perceived and what they are allowed to do. In 2014, it was reported that Al-Mansour was to direct ''A Storm in the Stars'', an upcoming romantic drama film about the early life of writer
Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...
. The film was later retitled ''
Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...
'' and premiered at the
2017 Toronto International Film Festival The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 7 to 17 September 2017. There were fourteen programmes, with the Vanguard and City to City programmes both being retired from previous years, with the total number of films down b ...
. Al-Mansour next announced she was on board to direct ''
Nappily Ever After ''Nappily Ever After'' is a 2018 American romantic comedy film directed by Haifaa al-Mansour and written by Adam Brooks and Cee Marcellus. It is based on the novel of the same name by Trisha R. Thomas. The film stars Sanaa Lathan, Ernie Hudson, ...
'', an adaptation of the book of the same name by Trisha R. Thomas. She was selected to be on the jury for the
Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...
section of the
2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...
. In January 2019, Al-Mansour "received a Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum's 2019 meeting in Davos for her leadership in cultural transformation in the
Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
." In April 2020, it was announced that she would direct Netflix's upcoming film ''The Selection'', based on the first entry in Kiera Cass’ popular book series. In 2020, she directed an episode on '' The Good Lord Bird''.


Style and themes

Haifaa is a part of a film industry in Saudi Arabia that is still developing. For her, it is exciting to see how there is funding for independent filmmaking in Saudi Arabia when there were once no cinemas where Haifaa grew up. She strays away from commercial filmmaking and chooses to make “art house” films that are niche. Haifaa believes that you must build an audience around art house filmmaking to cultivate and nurture its niche community because certain film industries like the U.S. and China are very established and because mainstream films will always find their way to audiences. She puts a lot of heart and thought into her work and does not want to lecture the audience. Instead, she allows them to self-discover themselves in relation to the social-political issues she tackles in her films. Haifaa has no intention to expose or shed negative light on Muslim or Saudi Arabian culture, but she anticipates and expects the public and critics to say women should not be making films or films about women. Her films are created with the audience in mind and use a documentary approach; filming on location with non-professional actors. The majority of her films deal with the same issues and themes. All of Haifaa’s short films and feature films are centered around a female protagonist, and the majority of her films are about how these women fight and stop at nothing to overcome their limitations as women living in Saudi Arabia. Not only do these female protagonists fight for their rights, but they are constantly faced with doubt and threats from other women, especially men. These women also experience continuous dismissal from men whenever they speak. And even when these protagonists are given the chance to do things they could not before, there is always a man that prefaces the unlikeliness of her obtaining what she wants or needs. Another common theme in Haifaa’s films is the significance of wedding parties in Saudi Arabia because they allow women to celebrate themselves without the presence of men. Moreover, she also has a great fascination with wedding singers and singing in general. Many of the women in her films often bond or share sweet moments with one another while singing. Haifaa also brings attention to the coverage and uncoverage of women and how that determines the identity of a woman. Lastly, her films show the beautiful bond between mothers, daughters, and sisters. Haifaa does not believe making a change or spreading a message needs to be through aggression, but instead through a soft-spoken and heart-warming story.


Personal life

Haifaa al-Mansour lived in
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
for some years, and eventually moved to California with her husband, Bradley Niemann, an American diplomat, and their two children, Adam and Haylie.


Filmography

Short film Feature film Television


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansour, Haifa Al- Helen Manz Living people The American University in Cairo alumni Helen Manz Helen Manz