Short films emerged in Saudi Arabia in 1977 with the production of “Assassination of the City” (اغتيال المدينة) directed by Abdullah Al-Muhaisen. The film’s themes revolved around the destruction of Beirut due to the civil war.
The film won the Nefertiti Golden Award for Best Short Film at the Cairo International Film Festival. Despite this success, Saudi short film production declined in subsequent years. The genre was then revived at the beginning of the third millennium due to the interest of many young independent filmmakers in making short films and thanks to the availability of new technology.
Haifaa Al-Mansour’s short film “Who?” (من؟), produced in 1997, is regarded as a landmark work within Saudi short-film production, bringing the number of films produced during the period 2003-2007 to about 50 short films, according to the “Study of the Impact of Short Films on the Saudi Society”
(دراسة أثر الأفلام القصيرة على المجتمع السعودي)1
This was followed by many productions and various themes. Among these themes, we find that over the years, Saudi short and feature films have been interested in controversial issues related to marital relations and the relationship between men and women. Women appeared as the central focus in more than one film, in a way that may seem similar despite the different dramatic situations and the artistic method applied in addressing them.
In this article, I will address three examples to identify their common features.
Women's Quiet Revenge (First Step of Vengeance)
In 2014, a short film titled “Bunduq’s Deal” (صفقة بندق) was produced, conceived and directed by Ali Abdel Hamid Al-Momen. It revolves around marital relationships, including betrayal and revenge. Dalal ruins the life of Siham (also called “Bunduq”) because of the former’s affair with the husband of the latter. Years later, Siham decides to have an affair with Dalal's husband, as she causes her divorce. She succeeds, triumphs over Dalal, and tells her that she took her husband as a revenge for what she did to her in the past.
Through the details of the plot, the film reveals the infidelity of men to their wives, and the tricks used by women to avenge their dignity. The film did not exceed 30 minutes, and came in the form of an unresolved mystery: Dalal's face was hidden, and then, after achieving revenge, her identity was revealed, and the reasons became clear.
Despite the film’s attempt to create suspense, it proved artistically imperfect. The film indeed adhered to a duration proper for a short film; however, it carried the characteristics of a feature film as it did not focus on a specific point in any given event, even though the plot revolves around the tyrannical desire of women to take revenge. The film swayed between different events, varied spaces and shifting times, while a short film should capture “a moment the same way a photograph does, addresses an emotional or mental state the way a poem does, or offers a deep, meditative observation the way a short story does.”2.
The film reveals its director's incomplete attempt to make a feature film, due to a script confined by the time limits of a short film. Despite this, the film is characterized by extended long takes, poor levels of performance, and a general confusion about its goals. Even at the structure level, the film begins with ambiguity that is only cleared later by revealing the woman’s identity; and this structure is more suitable for a feature film, which in turn requires a different cast and screenwriter.
Despite its many technical problems, the film is nonetheless placed among bold Saudi films that attempt to address marital problems, as well as how cunning women are, when it comes to revenge.
Women’s Violent Revenge (Second Step of Vengeance)
In the same path of revenge, we find that in 2020, another short film Sane Wife (الزوجة العاقلة) was produced, and directed by Muhammad Makki. The film revolves around the same theme, i.e. betrayal and revenge. A husband lies ill in the hospital; his lover comes to visit him at the same time as the wife. The wife discovers his betrayal and kills them both. The film ends with a look of victory in the wife's eyes, with her face covered with blood.
Seven years after its production, this film is considered a more faithful work to the traditions, features, and identity of short films, in terms of seizing a moment in the lives of certain people without elaboration or shifts between many spaces, scenes, and characters. It is also characterized by its unity of time, place and event, and by a limited number of characters. The performance was appropriate to the characters within the specified space, despite the attempt to justify the husband's infidelity, which proved unconvincing. However, it came in an artistic and technical form that is more developed compared to its predecessor.
When the technical aspects are set aside, addressing the same issue and its repeated representation in the two films denotes that it is an urgent societal problem in Saudi society. It is also notable that both films depict women as strong characters who can show a violent side when it comes to vengeance.
The Woman; A Legendary Killer (Third Level of Vengeance)
Cinematically, Saudi women's revenge is more evident in a feature film titled “The Matchmaker” (الخطّابة), a 2023 film directed by Abdul Mohsen al-Dabaan.
The film revolves around the same themes of betrayal and revenge. It begins with an introductory scene set in the past, showing a man burning in the desert. His Matchmaker wife set him on fire when she discovered that he had taken a second woman as his wife. This comes after she acquires a magical ring that gives her the power to burn men and bring them back to life as new characters, after settling their disputes with their wives!
The film then takes us back to the present time, where we meet (Hossam), an employee driven by curiosity and desire to get to know his co-worker, (Salma). His ambition leads him to the desert and into the world of The Matchmaker— a world that presents itself as capable of providing a second marriage opportunity for men. Once the men arrive, the game of revenge and burning begins.
The film is dominated by numerous supernatural elements, and unsettling cinematography, and understanding the mystery at the end only serves to heighten the suspense, and, in some scenes, perhaps even the horror. The film is also distinguished by its awareness of the nature of the setting and the drama it presents, using wide-angle shots that reinforce the fears experienced by the protagonist, along with minimal lighting sources to intensify the sense of mystery.
While the film could not fully integrate the myth into the real world, the protagonist's survival at the end and Salma's confrontation with the matchmaker weakened the plot. This led to attempts to provide convincing reasons for burning and killing men, but such justifications ultimately diminished the impact of the mystery and suspense.
Despite this, the film demonstrates a significant level of technical development that cannot be compared with the previous two films, as it belongs to a different genre, which is feature films.
It also differs in the world it chooses to represent women in: the world of the desert, and mythology. However, the presence of Salma as a common factor between the two worlds stripped the story of its imagined fantasy aspect, connecting the modern woman to the mythical one who exacts her revenge on men for betrayal. She is continuously plotting, constructing distant worlds, and communicating with unseen forces to carry out her vengeance.
This heightened the sense of horror, as she exists in all times and places, able to influence events in the present as well!
Although it seems that women have occupied a prominent place in shaping Saudi drama and its themes, it is notable that all three works were directed by male directors. While women indeed contributed to the writing, the final production- as well as all aspects of the imagery, performance, and direction- remained made by men, rather than women who could fully express themselves in issues closely intertwined with their own reality.
This requires a deeper engagement than merely focusing on the individual themes of revenge and murder, as these depictions of violent revenge come from men presenting their own perceptions of women. While they portrayed the infidelities of men, they also included, within every film, the image of a cheating woman. As a result, there was insufficient space to explore and understand the true nature of the Saudi female character.