Like the film's central heroine, al-Mansour's journey to becoming Saudi Arabia's first female filmmaker, on top of being one of the country's best-known and controversial directors, was a long and arduous one. Born on August 10, 1974, al-Mansour was born as the eighth (out of twelve) children to poet Abdul Rahman Mansour, who introduced her to films by video, there being no movie theaters in Saudi Arabia between 1983 and 2018. With her father's encouragement, she studied comparative literature at The American University in Cairo. She later completed a master's degree in Film Studies from University of Sydney, Australia. She began her filmmaking career with three shorts, Who?, The Bitter Journey and The Only Way Out. The latter won prizes in the United Arab Emirates and in the Netherlands. She followed these with the documentary Women Without Shadows, which deals with the hidden lives of women in Arab States of the Persian Gulf. It was shown at seventeen international festivals. The film received the Golden Dagger for Best Documentary in the Muscat Film Festival and a special jury mention in the fourth Arab Film Festival in Rotterdam. Her feature debut, Wadjda, which she wrote as well as directed, made its world premiere at the 2012 Venice Film Festival; it is the first full-length feature to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and as of 2013, the only feature-length film made in Saudi Arabia by a female director. The film tells the story of a ten-year-old girl growing up in the suburbs of Riyadh, who dreams of owning and riding a green bicycle. The film was selected as the Saudi Arabian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, which is the first time Saudi Arabia has submitted a film for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. In 2014 it was reported that Al-Mansour was to direct A Storm in the Stars, an upcoming romantic drama film about the early life of writer Mary Shelley. The film was later retitled Mary Shelley and premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Al-Mansour next film was Nappily Ever After, a Netflix adaptation of the book of the same name by Trisha R. Thomas. In April of 2020 it was announced that she would direct another Netflix film The Selection, based on the first entry in Kiera Cass’ popular book series.
In presenting political agenda whilst focusing on her character, Al-Mansour has created a 'perfect' little film that just happens to be set against an imperfect and deeply misogynistic society.
Simon says The Perfect Candidate (المرشحة المثالية) receives:
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