The world premiere of Ladies First: Saudi Arabia’s Female Candidates Followed by a Q&A with the journalists who created the film and special guests.

When: Friday, October 14 at 7:00pm Buy

Where: LeFrak Theater (American Museum of Natural History, 77th Street Entrance)

Grab tickets here Buy Purchase !

We may think we know what it is like to be a woman in Saudi Arabia. Women must all cover up in public. Women cannot drive nor can they travel without the permission of a man. Women are restricted in work, and study, and social activities. But Saudi women, like women anywhere, are dreamers and fighters, eager to have a voice. The New York Times’ Mona El-Naggar takes us inside the kingdom and introduces us to three proud and dynamic women, each determined to test the bounds of her society in different ways. The setting is a city council election in Riyadh, where in 2015 Saudi women were allowed to vote and run for office for the first time. While they could finally participate, though, they could not actually campaign in public. “Ladies First” offers a riveting and intimate view of the complex and largely inaccessible world of Saudi women, chronicling this remarkable first effort of women to claim a place on the political stage of their nation.

Following the screening, The Times’s journalists who created the film will share how they achieved such rare access to ordinary Saudi women. They will also be joined by panel of experts to discuss the broader issues of democracy and women’s rights in the Middle East.

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Co-Presented by The New York Times and the American Museum of Natural History’s Margaret Mead Film Festival.