Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen’s second feature Hijra is a road movie that derives much of its cinematic power from its use of real locations across the Kingdom.
Set in 2001, the film follows Sitti, who is travelling in a cramped minibus with a host of other women, and her two granddaughters, 12-year-old Janna and 18-year-old Sara. They are on a Hajj pilgrimage from the southern city of Taif, in the Hijaz mountains, to Mecca. When Sara disappears, suspected of fleeing to join either her friend or an errant aunt, Sitti and Janna head north after first brokering a lift with Ahmed, a chancer claiming to sell holy water to pilgrims, before going it alone on foot.
The film’s producer, Iraq-born filmmaker Mohamed Al Daradji, says Ameen pitched it as “an intimate, spiritually driven film. A story about women, memory, faith and belonging, rooted deeply in Saudi geography and culture”. He adds: “What moved me was her sensitivity toward the female experience in the Saudi context, without sensationalism or judgment.”
Ameen and Al Daradji spent more than three years making the film, travelling across Saudi Arabia from Taif, Jeddah and Medina to the northern deserts, including the once-inaccessible AlUla. “We let the landscape inform the emotional architecture of the film,” says Al Daradji. “It is not just a backdrop but an emotional and psychological space. The vast deserts, mountains and highways reflect the internal states of the characters: loss, longing, resilience and transition.
“The physical journey mirrors the inner journey — wide spaces for grief, harsh terrains for confrontation, and the sacred geography of Mecca and the Hijaz region as places of both rupture and healing.”
Strong backing
Hijra has been primarily supported by Saudi Film Commission through its Daw’ programme. Further Saudi partners include the Red Sea Fund, Film AlUla and Neom, which provided incentives and on-the-ground support.
Saudi film industry pioneer — and recently appointed Red Sea Film Foundation chief executive — Faisal Baltyuor is also a producer through his Ideation Studio and is distributing Hijra in Saudi Arabia via his CineWaves Films. Further co-producers include Biet Ameen Production, the Iraqi Independent Film Center, and producer Abboud Ayyash and line producer Sayed Abou Haidar’s company Three Arts. Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is handling sales and distribution in the MEDA region through Film Clinic, while CAA has North American sales rights.
Hijra opens in the Kingdom on January 8, 2026, and in the remaining GCC member states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) a week later.
European behind-the-scenes talent includes Hervé de Luze, the Paris-based Oscar-nominated editor of Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, and UK production designer Chris Richmond, whose credits include Edie and The Banishing.
A prominent Saudi cast, including Khairiah Nazmi, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy and Lamar Faden, embraced a naturalistic dialogue style and a rhythm that aimed to evolve with the characters’ physical journey and psychological transformation, moving beyond the traditional frameworks typically associated with Saudi cinema. “The film presents Saudi society through a deeply human lens, away from stereotypes,” says Al Daradji. “It shows complexity, tenderness, internal struggle, humour and dignity, especially through its female characters.
“Internationally, I believe audiences connect with Hijra because it speaks to universal emotions — loss, migration, faith and family bonds — while offering a rare authentic access into contemporary Saudi life and its transforming cultural landscape.”
Hijra premiered at Venice Film Festival in September, where it screened in the Spotlight competition and won the Netpac award for best Asian film. Since then, it has screened at Sweden’s Stockholm International Film Festival, India’s Kolkata International Film Festival and the 11th Asian World Film Festival.
It plays in Red Sea International Film Festival’s Competition from today (December 6), and Dukoh IFF from December 9-16.
The film will then play Carthage Film Festival (December 13-20), and in the Awards Buzz section at Palm Springs International Film Festival (January 2-12).
As with Ameen’s 2019 debut feature, feminist science-fiction fantasy Scales, Hijra is Saudi Arabia’s official selection for the best international feature film category at the Academy Awards, the Kingdom’s eighth submission since 2013. Nazmi was also nominated at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards for her performance.
Contact: Saudi Film Commission
Find out more: film.moc.gov.sa/en
