Wednesday October 13th 2021
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Saudi Arabia   2019     104 minutes
Director: Haifaa Al Mansour
Starring: Mila Al Zahrani, Dae Al Hilali, Nora Al Awad

​Maryam Alsafan is an ambitious young doctor working in an underfunded local A&E clinic, accessed by a poor unpaved road. At the local airport she is denied access to a booked flight to Dubai: as a single woman she needs her father’s assent, and unfortunately he is away from home with a folk music group. Almost by accident she signs up as a candidate in the next local elections, making access to her clinic a stimulus for her campaign. This act of female independence is hardly welcomed by everybody in deeply conservative Saudi Arabia. A fascinating story and insight into life in a country struggling to come to terms with the idea of equal rights for women under the law.