The winner of the Best Feature Film at the 11th Saudi Film Festival, which concluded earlier this month, “My Driver & I” (Salma and Gamar), directed by Saudi Arabia’s own Ahd Kamel, is a poignant coming-of-age story set in 1980s and 1990s Jeddah.
The film follows Salma, raised as an only child in a villa. Her globe-trotting father (played by legendary Saudi hip-hop artist Qusai “Don Legend” Kheder) indulges her with stacks of music cassette tapes from his international travels. Salma’s Palestinian mother (Rana Alamuddin) initially appears overly-strict but a soft undercurrent eventually reveals itself.
The heart of the film lies in Salma’s bond with Gamar (Mustafa Shahata), a newly hired Sudanese driver and father to a one-year-old child back in Sudan. Though tasked with taking Salma to school, Gamar becomes her protector, confidant and quiet guide through life.
Salma is portrayed as a very young girl by Tarah Al-Hakeem and later, as a teenager, by Roula Dakheelallah.
Gamar, too, has a relationship with cassette tapes — but for a very different reason. His wife back home cannot read, so he sends her audio recordings filled with updates and declarations of love for her and their child. Despite the distance and longing, he makes the difficult decision to stay in Jeddah until Salma graduates high school, sacrificing his own time with his family in the process.
One might be reminded of the classic 1989 American film “Driving Miss Daisy,” which followed the decades-long relationship between an elderly white Southern woman and her Black driver in mid-20th-century Atlanta. But while parallels can be drawn in terms of companionship and class, “My Driver & I” is a distinctly Saudi story — rooted in a different era, place and dynamic.
Kamel has said in interviews that the film is inspired by her own relationship with her childhood driver.
As Salma matures, the innocence of her world begins to fray. Still in high school, a shy flirtation with a teen boy (played by pop star Mishaal Tamer) causes tension between her and Gamar.
While some parts of the story may seem stretched or lengthy, it feels like a road — meandering, unfolding in its own time.
Kamel is no stranger to the screen. Best known for her acting role in the BAFTA-nominated “Wadjda” (2012), Saudi Arabia’s first feature film, “My Driver & I” marks her directorial debut.
While “Wadjda” centered on a girl longing to ride a bicycle, this film replaces the bike with a car — and, at one point, even a jet ski. In both films, the story is rooted in a Saudi girl’s perspective.
Raised in Jeddah, Kamel moved to New York City for higher education; she studied law at Columbia University and then animation and communication at Parsons, and obtained a directing degree from New York Film Academy. It was while in the US that she learned of her childhood driver’s passing and began writing “My Driver & I” as a homage — to him, and to the city they shared.
Gamar, which translates to “moon,” can be seen as reflecting Salma’s ball of sunshine.
He does not just drive her from place to place, he shows her the road — both literal and emotional. And she provides the soundtrack.
