Last year,
Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on female drivers. A new film follows several women as they take to the road – with surprising and moving results
About halfway through Saudi Women’s Driving School, airing on
HBO this week, the film looks as though it could be heading into a commercial break. Scenes in the sprawling, dust-cloaked capital of Riyadh give way to a magnificent desert ringed by sandstone plateaus. A single black Hyundai streaks through, trailing sand like a comet. In a scene worthy of a car ad, a woman, Shahad al-Humaizi, drives through the desert, sunglasses coolly in place.
Related: Making Waves: behind a fascinating documentary about movie sound