NEWS CENTER_The film “Hijra” brings to the big screen the diverse geography of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its cultural fabric, through the story of the journey undertaken by twelve-year-old Jannah, her sister Sarah, and their grandmother, on their way to Mecca.

The film is the second feature-length narrative work by Saudi director Shahad Ameen, and focuses on relationships between women across different gernrations, it also aims to shed light on the cultural diversity that does not receive the same degree of Knowledge and attention in the Kingdom.

In the film, the grandmother sets out accompanied by her two granddaughters, Jannah and Sarah, from Taif heading to Mecca. During the traditional pilgrimage journey, Sarah disappears, so Jannah and the grandmother begin a search for her that extends across different regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Sarah's disappearance turns the journey from merely a search for her into a journey of discovering the family's past as well. The people and places that Jannah and the grandmother encounter along their way carry to the film's narrative different aspects of the Kingdom's social and cultural structure and its diversity.

The events of "Hijra" take place in 2001, and it was filmed in various regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, alongside vast desert spaces, including Jeddah, Medina, AlUla, NEOM, and Taif.

The film makes the Kingdom's extended geography, from desert landscapes to cities, an essential part of its visual language. Through this journey, Shahad Ameen sheds light on the nature of the Kingdom in which multiple cultures coexist, and highlights its geographical and cultural diversity.

"Hijra" represents the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oscars race, and also participated within the list of competing films at the Red Sea International Film Festival.

The film participates within the feature-length narrative film competition in the nineteenth edition of the International Women's Film Festival in Salé, Morocco, alongside nine other films.

It is screened within the festival's activities alongside works by female filmmakers from different countries, in a cinematic meeting that celebrates women's experiences in filmmaking and the diversity of their visions.