Pioneering Saudi filmmaker Haifa al-Mansoor has come a long way since secretly directing the 2012 drama Wazida. Her country has come a long way since lifting the ban in 2017.
Post “Wazida,” Al Mansour currently divides time between Los Angeles and his home country, but he directs two Hollywood productions, “Mary Shelley” starring Elle Fanning and “Nappy Ever.” She also directs several episodes of major US television series, such as “Fear The Walking Dead.”
Al Mansour also made two subsequent films in Saudi Arabia. First, 2019 drummer The Perfect Candaderthe is a drama about a young female doctor who runs a local government election by manipulating a male-dominated society. And recently, her new film, Unidentified, is a thriller that revolves around the discovery of an unborn body of a teenage girl in the desert. When no one insisted on his body, Noel Al Safan, a newly divorced true crime enthusiast who recently lost his own child, gets compulsively involved.
Fully funded by Saudi Arabia’s Rotana Studios, Unidentified, has just been released by the Toronto Film Festival and will be released in the US via Sony Pictures Classics. But what’s more important for Al Mansour is how you play with Saudi audiences, as he speaks of the diversity below.
“UNIDENTIFIED” is the third photo in a trilogy about women who advocate women’s rights in Saudi society. What drew you to this particular story and thriller genre?
I think it’s time to evolve in the Middle East beyond making primarily political or social films. It’s a hot area where so much is going on. But when it comes to art, I think it’s also important to tell interesting and fun stories. In this case, I wanted to portray the complexities of cultures where sexism and violence against women are rampant and that assassination of women is not in fact important. I also wanted to portray women as complex characters, not just one-dimensional characters. But I wanted to make it fun by doing all this in genre films.
Talk to me about the importance of putting more complicated Saudi women on screen.
The truth is that women in the Middle East have many agencies and many SAS. And despite the system that always alienates them, they are hussing. So I wanted to show you what happens when a woman is placed in a place of frustration. She feels she is not heard and she doesn’t matter, she’s just being pushed to the side. But we are not always innocent angels. So I also wanted to show you a morally flawed Saudi woman.
It’s interesting to see the different roles women play in your trilogy over the years. “Wadjda” (2012) was about young girls who were not allowed to ride a bike. In “Unidentified”, the woman is driving a car and the main character takes on a police investigation despite her not being expected. Of course, there’s a long way to go, but do you think the lives of Saudi women have improved?
absolutely. That has changed a lot. By the time of “Wadjda”, the country was separated. As a filmmaker, I couldn’t go on the street and shoot in the man because the country wasn’t ready for it. Of course, it shifted very much. Especially at work. As police work is open to women, Noel sees him trying to become a police officer. Saudi Arabia is changing at a very fast pace and feels it is bounced back to a country like Egypt in terms of giving women more freedom. But we also think we need to promote society to open up more society and treat men and women equally. We’re not there yet. It is located not only in Saudi Arabia, but all in the Middle East.
In the film, Noel is a big follower of female Saudi influencers who combine makeup tutorials with crime reconstruction. Is this based on the real thing in an area where social media is very widespread?
Yes, that’s right. As you may know, there is content in this genre where creators discuss true crime stories while simultaneously applying true crime stories. Of course, social media is huge in Saudi Arabia. I have a child in Tiktok. They must be in Tiktok just to make sure they are safe. But especially in the Middle East, we are very conservative and have a lot of social constraints, so social media can be really positive about bringing people together in society.
From a production perspective, was this film difficult to fund?
Unlike Saudi Arabia’s co-produced “Wadjda” and “The Perfect Candidate”, “Unidentifed” is fully funded by Saudi Arabia. Of course, that means supplying more pressure. But gradually, the infrastructure, talent and crew needed to build the local industry are beginning to disappear. And I am truly proud that Saudi Arabia has encouraged and defended the artist.
When will the film be performed in Saudi Arabia?
It will be released in the Arab world at the Red Sea Film Festival in December, and I think I’ll be heading out to the cinemas. Saudi audiences are really excited to see a film made by women. I often want to invest in the kind of movies in the Middle East, often they have male stars and biting men. So I really hope that we can do well to prove that we can make films as women and succeed.
