Introducing...Haifaa al-Mansour

Haifa al-Mansour is Saudi Arabia's first and only film director

Welcome to our first "Introducing..." feature.

Continuing the theme of women in Saudi Arabia, I have chosen to introduce Haifaa al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia's first and only female film director.

Her portfolio of work includes three short films and one feature film Wadjda, the latter was both written and directed by al-Mansour. (Wadjda was funded and produced by the same production company behind other recent greats from the Middle East, including Waltz With Bashir and Paradise Now).

Whilst not intending to enter into the realm of Saudi gender inequality, growing up in the Kingdom has proved a powerful influence in al-Mansour's work. It would be a huge over-simplification to describe her work as a critique of Saudi policy and culture towards women, but her latest film clearly challenges the Kingdom's gender inequalities.

I find two things particularly striking about al-Mansour. First, her bravery. Since embarking upon a career in film she has received hate mail and is publicly despised amongst certain circles of Saudi society. Yet she remains undeterred and un-phased. In order for progress to be made in correcting Saudi's gender imbalance figure-heads are required, figure-heads who are prepared to continue undeterred in spite of the vehement opposition which will line their path. I believe al-Mansour deserves that 'figure head' accolade.

The second important aspect of al-Mansour's story is her parents. Cinemas are banned in Saudi Arabia, but al-Mansour's father, the poet Abdul Rahman Mansour, fuelled her interest in film by showing her videos whilst she was growing up. The director's parents then afforded her the freedom necessary to embark upon a career. Without such liberal parents I doubt very much we would have heard the name Haifaa al-Mansour. Instead of attending the 2012 Venice Film Festival as an acclaimed film director she could have been walking several paces behind a domineering father/husband/brother, dressed head to toe in black, her talents lost in repression.

Haifaa al-Mansour is another example of the gradual progress being made for women in Saudi Arabia. Her bravery should be commended and we should see her as a champion of gender equality in the Kingdom. But my biggest hope is that the more liberal leaders in Saudi see her as an example the potential talent incumbent in many Saudi women. It is up to these leaders to implement the necessary reforms to transform this potential into reality. Not may women in Saudi will have fathers as liberal as Abdul Rahman Mansour.