cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16911227

It’s unlikely that you will have seen the city of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, shown with such textured complexity in a film before. In part that’s because the Saudi film industry is so new – the first film to be shot entirely in the country, Wadjda by Haifaa al-Mansour, was made just 12 years ago. Mainly, though, it’s because Mandoob, the striking first feature from Saudi director Ali Kalthami, delves into places in this stratified, rapidly evolving city that even those who live there are unlikely to know about.