Young Saudi Ladies Race into a Bright Future

My job as a film producer took me to Jeddah, the Saudi Arabian city at the Red Sea, last week to film a promotion for the MdlBeast concert at the upcoming Formula 1 race. While I have been working in that region for quite a while I had not been back to Jeddah for a few years.

Boy, what a surprise: A town where all women had to cover their hair by law and hid their faces in public, a Corniche where you would see most men either stroll alone or with their covered wives following a few steps behind them – that is gone! Now many ladies and girls wear whatever they want, some cover their hair, some don’t. Even way after midnight the Corniche is full of people, families, crowds of young people, young couples, some holding hands.

My biggest surprise was: The number of women and girls that get into car racing. We filmed with 22-year-old Reem Al Abouda (in the picture on our film set), who told me: ”It was always my dream to race cars, I still can’t believe it is coming true.” Just three years ago she would have had no chance to fulfill her dream in Saudi Arabia!

Originally published on March 10, 2022.