Passes the Bechdel test

Wadjda

Name: Wadjda
Released: 2012

2012. Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, written by Haifaa Al-Mansour.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
4 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 12 scenes out of 124.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

WADJDA is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda's mother won't allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl's virtue. So Wadjda decides to try and raise the money herself. At first, Wadjda's mother is too preoccupied with convincing her husband not to take a second wife to realize what's going on. And soon enough Wadjda's plans are thwarted when she is caught running various schemes at school. Just as she is losing hope of raising enough money, she hears of a cash prize for a Quran recitation competition at her school. She devotes herself to the memorization and recitation of Quranic verses, and her teachers begin to see Wadjda as a model pious girl. The competition isn't going to be easy, especially for a troublemaker like Wadjda, but she refuses to give in. She is determined to continue fighting for her dreams.

Released: 16 May 2013
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Rated: PG
IMDb: 7.5 / 10
Metascore: 81 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award22 wins & 36 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Wajda 179 lines, woman
Mother 118 lines, woman
Ms. Hussa 80 lines, woman
Abdullah 43 lines, man
Koran Teacher 22 lines, woman
Father 20 lines, man
Noura 19 lines, woman
Leila 11 lines, woman
Salma 11 lines, woman
Fatin 9 lines, woman

Full cast, 15 people

Reem Abdullah as Mother
Waad Mohammed as Wadjda
Abdullrahman Algohani as Abdullah
Ahd Kamel as Ms. Hussa
Sultan Al Assaf as Father
Dana Abdullilah as Salma
Rehab Ahmed as Noura
Rafa Al Sanea as Fatima
Sara Aljaber as Leila
Noura Faisal as Abeer
Talal Loay as Abeer's Young Man
Sami Hazim as Abdullah's uncle
Mohammed Zahir as Iqbal - the driver
Nouf Saad as Koran Teacher
Faoziah Alyaaqop as Ms Jamilia

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 124

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 3	9	0
4 to 6	1	0
7 to 9	5	4
10 to 12	12	5
13 to 15	0	0
16 to 18	4	5
19 to 21	14	0
22 to 24	22	0
25 to 27	6	0
28 to 30	5	3
31 to 33	18	0
34 to 36	19	0
37 to 39	10	0
40 to 42	6	6
43 to 45	1	1
46 to 48	6	2
49 to 51	6	0
52 to 54	6	6
55 to 57	7	4
58 to 60	13	0
61 to 63	5	4
64 to 66	8	2
67 to 69	24	0
70 to 72	7	0
73 to 75	11	7
76 to 78	21	0
79 to 81	8	0
82 to 84	4	0
85 to 87	4	0
88 to 90	7	5
91 to 93	22	5
94 to 96	24	2
97 to 99	5	3
100 to 102	17	1
103 to 105	37	0
106 to 108	11	0
109 to 111	32	0
112 to 114	37	0
115 to 117	16	1
118 to 120	4	11
121 to 123	10	0
124 to 124	1	0

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

MS. HUSSA: All right girls, you are just behind the gate, don't laugh so loudly. Women's voices shouldn't carry outside the door! FATIMA: Sorry, Ms. Hussa. FATIN: It won’t happen again. MS. HUSSA: Wajda!

NOURA: This is for you. MS. HUSSA: Thank you for your feelings, but you know you are not supposed to bring flowers to school.

WAJDA: I thought about what you said. I was wrong and am ready to change. I would like to join the religious club. MS. HUSSA: You are becoming a Shiekha all of a sudden? WAJDA: Maybe I'll learn something. You know… to put me on the righteous path. MS. HUSSA: I will call your Mother tomorrow and speak to her about this. If we agree, it’s your last chance.

WAJDA AND HER MOTHER: Why did you leave? You forgot our nights? I'll write you a love letter… WAJDA: So I've saved up 87 riyals already and I only need 413 to get the bicyc--

WAJDA: I'll let you onto the roof if you bring your bicycle. LEILA: Hey Wajda, it's me Leila. LEILA: You look so grown up and cute! LEILA: Can you call your Mother? The bus is waiting.