Haifaa Al Mansour on Saudi Thriller ‘Unidentified’
Variety recently covered Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Unidentified, a thriller exploring sexism and silenced voices. At Talent Trust, we look at these stories through the lens of workplace culture, psychological safety, and anonymous feedback.
“The truth is that women in the Middle East have a lot of agency and a lot of sass. And they hustle, in spite of a system that always marginalizes them. So I wanted to show what happens to a woman when she is put in a place of frustration; when she feels that she is not heard, and she doesn’t matter, and she is just pushed to the side.”
This truth applies not only to Middle Eastern women but to people everywhere. When people feel marginalised and ignored, we often see this kind of behaviour. When they voice concerns but aren’t heard, they may begin causing trouble as a way to get attention and be acknowledged.
That’s the main reason we have our feedback mechanisms.
So the story she’s implementing happens to be about the Middle East, and you can say, yes, it’s because women aren’t heard in the Middle East and they’re marginalised. But this is showing human traits and what happens if you don’t take notice.