16/12/2025 - The second film by Shahad Ameen is a poignant road movie and a portrait of two generations of Saudi women

What can you make of the world when you see it concealed by a veil – or, rather, by the curtain on a bus, which a group of women happen to be taking on their way to Mecca? Not much can be discerned, except bits and pieces of the landscape and whatever happens inside the vehicle – and inside their tight-knit female community. Soon, however, their thirst to experience freedom will draw those curtains back.

These women are on their way to do a Hajj, a holy pilgrimage that every Muslim needs to undertake at least once in their lives. Two young teens – Sarah (Raghad Bokhari) and Janna (Lamar Faden) – and their grandma Sitti (Khayriya Nazmi) will be our guides throughout Hijra [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a subtle, occasionally poetic and very impressive movie by Shahad Ameen. Hijra is on the road, too – from its premiere in Venice’s Venezia Spotlight to its MENA premiere at the fifth Red Sea International Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and the Audience Award (see the news), and to its participation in the Oscars race, representing Saudi Arabia (see the news).

After reaching Mecca, the rebellious Sarah blends in with the crowd and disappears – allegedly to meet up with her beloved boyfriend and break free from the restrictions of her life. Sitti and Janna set out to find her before her strict father learns about his daughter’s escape and intervenes. On their way through Saudi Arabia’s vast landscapes, they meet the street-smart and not entirely reliable Ahmed (Nawaf Al-Dhufairy), who harbours a secret that will complicate their journey.

As the search progresses, their view of the world widens – also intentionally through the framing, camera work and location choices. Janna’s horizons are no longer limited to hemmed-in spaces and curtains: she faces the desert, which can be read as a metaphor for life’s vast range of choices. She gets to navigate the world in a new way, to make mistakes and learn about the consequences of her need for freedom – such as the moment when she releases a tethered camel, to dire results. Janna also bonds with Sitti, who represents a different generation of Saudi women, and who has a different way of experiencing freedom.

Hijra is slow-paced but emotionally dense, and its realistic tone is tinted with surrealism, which was also Ameen’s chosen style in her debut feature, Scales. She’s very deliberate and precise in both her writing and her directing – the recurring motifs of a camel, the desert and even the change in weather are elements that both help glue the story together and embellish it like a snowflake glinting in the light. Hijra is structured, but at the same time, it offers us enough space and freedom to observe and interpret what we see, without losing us in the process. Even though the story is set in a specific culture and zooms in on its related rituals, it communicates clearly, also through its visual language, creating an invisible yet strong bond between the characters and the audience.

Ameen worked closely with her Chilean DoP, MI Littin-Menz, to build a narrative that shifts from narrow shots and a cold colour palette to wide perspectives and yellow hues. The remaining piece of the puzzle that complements the tone and the consistency of the storytelling are the impressive performances by the two female leads: Faden and Nazmi have wonderful chemistry and a charismatic on-screen presence. They both convey – each in their own way – the tension between conformity and rebellion.

Hijra – which in Arabic means “migration” – is an impressive and moving journey that taps into a universal need for space and self-determination. It just goes to show that even if some camels are forcibly restrained, they will never stop dreaming of freedom.

Hijra is a joint effort involving Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt and the UK, produced by Bite Ameen, the Iraqi Independent Film Center, Ideation Studios, Film Clinic, Human Film, Noon Art Media Production, Cine Waive and Three Arts. Its world sales rights are up for grabs.