As an aspiring Saudi film-maker, Ruba Alsweel knew the odds were stacked against her.
Cinema is banned in her home country and women face many restrictions in their daily life, including being prohibited from driving. She did, however, get a glimmer of hope a year ago when Riyadh unveiled an ambitious $72bn transformation plan to overhaul its oil-dependent economy just as she was returning to Saudi Arabia after finishing postgraduate studies in Paris.
“I remember thinking that surely reducing the dependence on oil and diversifying the economy would mean more creative solutions and more human capital,” Ms Alsweel, 27, says. “There is a place for me.”