Azza takes no nonsense from anyone. We first see this in the opening scene of German filmmaker Stefanie Brockhaus’s latest documentary, Azza, which screened at Beldocs after its world premiere at CPH:DOX. The protagonist is in the car, giving one of her freelance driving lessons to another woman. As a driver in front cuts her off, she films him with her phone, making sure he notices.

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This is happening in Saudi Arabia, where women only got permission to drive and to rent a flat under their own name in 2017. After her 2017 Locarno film The Poetess [+lee también:
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Pushed by her Bedouin parents into an arranged marriage at the age of 16, Azza was forced to quit school, which resulted in an inability to find a properly paid job. After getting a divorce from her violent husband through a clever and bold trick, she still needed to get married again in order to have a place to live. The current husband, whom we see in two scenes, seems to be a lot more flexible than your typical Saudi, but we can tell he’s not exactly comfortable with being filmed in his home. The chains of tradition hold him back despite his open mind. Deeply ingrained, they hold an emotional power over him, just like they still partly do over Azza.

But the film is not really about Saudi customs and laws, nor is it about all the men and women in this society. This is the background for a story about this uniquely strong and defiant, but deeply sensitive, woman whose presence and lively, animated spirit virtually shine out from the screen. Azza and Brockhaus spend most of the time in the car, driving through the country, which is all desert and sea, giving the film its distinct background of beiges, yellows, greys and blues. But the director infuses it with a feeling of a much more open, wider experiential space, thanks to Amélie Legrand’s rich, varied score, which atmospherically colours moods and transitions, and also includes two original, female-vocal-led songs with a strong desert vibe, reminiscent of Bedouin music.

After an inspired, oneiric scene in an oasis, Azza emerges on the other side, into the desert, where we meet her parents. We again feel the tension between her love for her father and her anger that his actions halted her education and hindered her chances for a better life. In turn, she struggles to protect her daughters, who are living with her ex-husband, who often beats them. The vicious circle continues: if she were able to get a proper job, she could afford a bigger apartment and bring them there. Some freedom has been attained, and maybe her daughters will be able to go all the way to attain real independence.

Azza was produced by Germany’s Ventana Films and is handled internationally by Syndicado.