Wadjda (Arabic: وجدة, romanized: Wajda, pronounced [wad͡ʒ.da]) is a 2012 Saudi Arabian drama film, written and directed by Haifaa al-Mansour (in her feature directorial debut).

In the 2000s, Wadjda, a spirited 10-year-old living in Riyadh, dreams of owning a green bicycle that she passes at a store every day on her way to school.

She wants to race her friend Abdullah, a boy from her neighborhood, but riding bikes is frowned upon for girls and Wadjda's mother refuses to buy one for her.

At school, Wadjda decides to join the religion club to participate in a Quran recital competition featuring a SR1,000 cash prize (equivalent of about US$270[12]).

Meanwhile, two girls at the madrasa caught by the headmistress for adorning themselves with nail polish and marker-drawn ankle tattoos are surprised when Wadjda, in keeping with her new pious image, does not stand with them by testifying in their favor.

[13] Al-Mansour's screenplay was influenced by neorealist cinema such as Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves, Jafar Panahi's Offside and the Dardenne brothers' Rosetta.

Al-Mansour says that the original version of her screenplay was much bleaker than the finished product: "I decided I didn't want the film to carry a slogan and scream, but just to create a story where people can laugh and cry a little.

[14] The main themes of the story are freedom, as represented by the bicycle, and the fear of emotional abandonment, as Wadjda's father wants to take a second wife who will provide him with a son.

[14] Wadjda was filmed on the streets of Riyadh, which often made it necessary for the director to work from the back of a van, as she could not publicly mix with the men in the crew.

The critical consensus is: "Transgressive in the best possible way, Wadjda presents a startlingly assured new voice from a corner of the globe where cinema has been all but silenced.

[16] Film critics cite the ways Wadjda is able to grapple with important societal issues, while also accurately understanding the limits of large scale change.

[17] The New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane feels similarly, as he argues that there are many ways Wadjda could have done more of a disservice to women in Saudi Arabia, rather than helping expose their inequality.