Wadjda Page #8

Synopsis: Wadjda (Arabic: وجدة‎‎) is a 2012 Saudi Arabian drama film, written and directed by Haifaa al-Mansour. It was the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and the first feature-length film made by a female Saudi director. It won numerous awards at film festivals around the world. The film was selected as the Saudi Arabian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards (the first time the country made a submission for the Oscars, but it was not nominated.It successfully earned a nomination for Best
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Production: Sony Pictures Classics
  Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 22 wins & 33 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.6
Metacritic:
81
Rotten Tomatoes:
99%
PG
Year:
2012
98 min
$1,023,558
Website
2,950 Views


WAJDA:

Really?

She acts out a big explosion.

37.

WAJDA (CONT’D)

Boom! Seventy bicycles!

Abdullah leans his bicycle against the wall and runs towards

a small grocery store. He shouts back to her.

ABDULLAH:

It doesn't work that way. Stay with

the bicycle so no one steals it.

Wajda leans on it and strikes a pose ala Marlon Brando in the

"The Wild One.”

55 INT. COURTYARD OF WAJDA'S HOUSE - DAY 55

Wajda looks through the window at her Mother, lying on the

couch. As soon as she gets up, Wajda ducks down quickly. She

waits for her Mother to go to the bathroom and then sneaks

inside.

56 INT. WAJDA'S ROOM - DAY 56

Wajda lies on her bed, exhausted. She looks over at her

savings chart and sorts her money again.

WAJDA:

60, 70, 80, 85, 86, 87 riyals…

Her Mother pokes her head inside and Wajda shoves the money

under her pillow, feigning innocence and repentance.

MOTHER:

Had enough?

Wajda nods.

MOTHER (CONT’D)

Tomorrow you can return to school,

but you are joining that religious

club, like you told Ms. Hussa.

57 INT. THE MOSQUE - DAY 57

Wajda's black converses dangle above the floor while she sits

at a row of desks with twenty other girls. On the blackboard

the KORAN TEACHER writes "The Religious Club: Agenda" then

turns to the class.

38.

KORAN TEACHER:

Let's compile all the stories we

know about torment in the grave and

make a pamphlet for the whole

school. Any ideas?

NOURA:

(raising her hand)

I want to tell the story of the

giant snake from Hell that was sent

to torture the girl that did not

pray after she died.

Wadja is busy drawing a picture of a bicycle when she hears

Ms. Hussa’s high heels approach. Behind Wajda, Yasmine

whispers to Noura, giggling.

YASMINE:

There was a thief at Ms. Hussa's

house…

NOURA:

It was her lover, not a thief! Her

Father thought it was a thief and

called the police!

A conservative older girl, SALMA, shushes them.

SALMA:

If she said it was a thief, then it

was a thief.

NOURA:

(rolling her eyes)

Of course you would think that,

Salma. The only man that would ever

speak to you would have to be a

thief.

Salma looks down, eyes watering. The girls giggle then

compose themselves as Ms. Hussa enters.

KORAN TEACHER:

Girls, Ms. Hussa is here to explain

the Koranic competition rules. It's

only five weeks away. I'll pass

around a sign up sheet.

The teacher hands out the sheet as Wajda tuns the page to

hide the bicycle drawing. Ms. Hussa glances at Wajda, then at

the class.

39.

MS. HUSSA

First, we've increased the amount

for the prize. It is now 1,000

instead of 800 riyals. You'll have

to learn all the long suras (the

first 4 chapters of the Koran).

Wajda raises her eyebrows. She flips through the Koran on

her desk and measures the amount of paper she would have to

learn.

MS. HUSSA (CONT’D)

The competition is two parts:

you’ll to study the associated

vocabulary along with the reasons

why the verses were descended from

heaven. You also have to learn the

verses and the proper recitation.

The correct tone, rhythm and pacing

are very important.

Wajda sneaks a look at her bicycle drawing and watches the

sign up sheet as it passes from one girl to another,

nervously. Salma is the first to sign up followed by Noura

and then Yasmine…

The sheet finally comes to her and Wajda scribbles her name.

Noura raises an eyebrow and looks to Yasmine as Wajda smugly

brings it up, hands it to intrigued Ms. Hussa and smiles.

58 EXT. STREET IN FRONT OF THE TOY SHOP - DAY 58

Walking home from school, Wajda stops, checks out the bicycle

and then walks inside with determination.

59 INT. TOY SHOP - DAY 59

She exchanges a glance with The Owner as he counts his

receipts. He flips over a record on the player.

WAJDA:

Do you know they invented a new

thing called a tape player?

TOY SHOP OWNER:

Do you plan on buying anything?

WAJDA:

How would I know? People need to

browse, don't they?

40.

Nonchalantly, she walks around in the aisles pretending to

look at other toys. Her eyes stay focused on the bicycle

section. She looks up to see The Owner looking at her as he

organizes his records and she quickly turns away.

She heads to the computer game section and looks at one that

says "Learn the Koran the easy way." She studies it,

thinking.

TOY SHOP OWNER:

You won't find any tapes back

there. We only have CD's.

He smiles, mockingly. Wajda looks back, suppressing a smile.

WAJDA:

Thank you very much! See you

tomorrow

On her way out the door Wajda slowly passes by the bicycle

and runs her fingers through the ribbons on the handlebars.

TOY SHOP OWNER:

Can you even ride one?

WAJDA:

(confidently)

Ride? I race the wind.

Wajda trips as she exits. The Owner laughs in amusement and

turns up the record player.

60 INT. PHOTO SHOP - DAY 60

Wajda walks up to the counter and pulls out a photo.

WAJDA:

Can you put this picture on a mug?

The picture shows a veiled woman holding a smiling baby girl.

61 EXT. THE NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS - DAY 61

As Wajda waits for her mug, at the front of the store, she

throws her rock idly up in the air, keeping an eye on the

bicycle next door.

Abdullah rides up on his bicycle, which is loaded down with

rolls of lights and extension cords.

41.

ABDULLAH:

Hey, where's your bicycle? I

thought you're getting the nice

green one! HA!

WAJDA:

(furious)

I will, I have a plan.

ABDULLAH:

(laughing)

I'm sure you do, but it doesn't

seem to be working.

As he pedals away, the shopkeeper comes out and hands Wajda

the mug. She takes 15 riyals out of her pocket, looks at the

money, sighs and reluctantly hands it to him.

Wajda runs after Abdullah, determined to catch him. He laughs

and tries to pedal away, but is weighed down by the lights.

Wajda closes in on him, and pulls him down to the ground by

grabbing the string of lights over his shoulder.

WAJDA:

(breathing heavily)

I just signed up for a Koranic

recitation competition. I'll get a

thousand riyals by the end of the

semester. I'll buy a bicycle and a

helmet like people on TV. I will

race you and win!

ABDULLAH:

Yeah… Race me and win… In your

dreams, little girl!

He laughs again, gets back on the bicycle and pedals off.

WAJDA:

(yells)

I caught you didn't I?

ABDULLAH:

I let you catch me!

62 INT. WAJDA'S ROOM - DAY 62

Wajda counts her remaining money.

WAJDA:

57, 58, 59, 60, 61...62 riyals.

42.

She sighs, picks up the mug, and stares at the picture on it.

63 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 63

The TV is on, muted, in the background. Wajda lays on the

floor. She looks up at the TV and sees a commercial for the

movie the “Matrix”. Wajda's Mother, holding a phone to her

ear, looks at her disapprovingly. Her Mother collects herself

and turns away from Wajda. Her hair is up, with a few curls

dangling seductively on her neck. She smiles, flirtatiously.

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote

Haifaa al-Mansour

Haifaa al-Mansour (Arabic: هيفاء المنصور‎‎; born 10 August 1974) is a film director from Saudi Arabia. She is one of the country's best-known and most controversial directors, and the first female Saudi filmmaker. more…

All Haifaa al-Mansour scripts | Haifaa al-Mansour Scripts

0 fans

Submitted by aviv on November 10, 2016

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Wadjda" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/wadjda_575>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    Wadjda

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.


    Quiz

    Are you a screenwriting master?

    »
    In which year was "The Dark Knight" released?
    A 2008
    B 2007
    C 2009
    D 2010