Saudi Runaway

Muna is a young, fearless woman in Saudi Arabia who is tired of being controlled by the state and the harsh restrictions she endures as a woman. Her arranged marriage, in which she sees a prolonged life without free will, is imminent, so she decides she must escape in order to save herself. Muna secretly documents every moment of her claustrophobic existence using her cell phones, often filming through her hijab. Her camera also gives us intimate access to her innermost thoughts as it becomes her documentation and her lifeline. As her wedding and therefore her escape draw near, we are glued to Muna’s lens as she risks imprisonment to capture every beat of her journey. But will her meticulous plan to escape succeed? Swiss-German filmmaker Susanne Regina Meures is Muna’s active collaborator in the film. Collecting the uploaded secret cell phone footage from her along the way, Meures constructs an equal-parts vulnerable and riveting narrative that is wholly alive with fear and hope for a better life. (Sundance Film Festival)