Layalina Productions, Inc. | The Layalina Review: "Cinema Re-opens in Saudi Arabia after Three Decades"

The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 13, June 05-June 18, 2009

Cinema Re-opens in Saudi Arabia after Three Decades

David Oliver quipped in The Guardian, that a recent Saudi movie, Menah is the number one film in Riyadh. Actually, it turns out to be the only movie in Riyadh.

However, he reports that the movie was a major step forward for Saudi Arabia, a country which has banned filmgoing for the past three decades. Religious hardliners in the 1970s pushed the government to ban the practice in order to avoid the temptation of genders mixing in dark places, along with their perception of the movie industry as a lavish, sinful expenditure.

Coinciding with President Barack Obama’s visit to the country, the film “Menahi” screened in theaters in Jeddah, Taif, Jazan, and Riyadh, reports Arab News. Women were allowed in the screenings outside Riyadh, albeit on separate floors of the theaters than men.

However, in the June 6 screening at the King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh, a city where Islamic interpretations generally run more conservative, officials from production company Rotana were unable to gain government permission for women to attend, the Associated Press reports.

Publicity in Riyadh was reportedly “discreet, apparently out of fear opponents would gather en masse to stop the screening,” according to AP. Pakistan’s The News reports that “A phalanx of police was recruited to fend off the Islamic activists” who showed up, evidently unaffiliated with the government.

Dubai is the second film from media conglomerate Rotana, reports Qatar Happening. Rotana officials estimate that 25,000 viewers (9,000 of whom are women) have now seen the film, which originally screened months ago in Jeddah and Taif.

Rotana is owned by royal media mogul, Saudi Prince Waleed bin Talal. In addition to its production company, Rotana dominates the Arab entertainment scene with television and radio stations, a record label, and upscale hotels across the Middle East.

The BBC points out that Prince Waleed has said he believes theaters will eventually reopen in the Kingdom. Prince Waleed’s wife, Princess Ameera, declared to The Telegraph earlier this year that she wanted to be the first female to drive in Saudi Arabia.

Conservative leader Youssef Al-Ahmed has publically denounced Prince Waleed bin Talal as being as dangerous as drug dealers for permitting the showing of movies on his television network.

There were minor protests by religious conservatives at the screening who hurled epithets at the lead actor, Fayz Al-Maliki, and for a moment, the audience.

Actor Al-Maliki responded by saying, “They do not represent Islam, have no official standing and cannot be considered guardians of virtue. Therefore, they have no real influence.” Al-Maliki added that the actions of the religious protestors are “not the essence of Islam. It is more of an individual act and is not a proper way to project righteous things.”

According to the Arab News, Saudi actor and producer Hassan Al-Asiri, Al-Maliki’s costar, said that Saudi society needs dialogue to work through cultural concerns. “They are afraid of the unknown, their beliefs are genuine as ours are, and therefore we should open channels of communication with them, understand their fears and give them assurances.”

Al-Asiri believes that the Ministry of Culture and Information should develop and publicize a gradual plan for reopening movie theaters, according to Arab News. He suggests a timeline where only Saudi films would be allowed for the first ten years, then Gulf films for the next seven years, then the last three years could open up the Kingdom to films from across the Arab world.

Al-Asiri points out that even for concerned groups like portions of the government and religious conservatives, cinemas can provide a useful tool in solving social problems and promoting good values. “The theater will also give the young a media that is easier to control than the TV, where 18 million Saudis are watching with no control or censorship,” he said.

Some say gradual change is wise, like 25-year-old Talal Saleh who went to one of the first screenings. “This is a conservative society that's not used to mixing," he said. "Change should happen gradually."

Others still found the situation droll. Saudi businessman Abdul Mohsen al-Mani, who attended the screening with his sons, told Agence France Presse, “This is the first step in a peaceful revolution." “I don’t want my two sons to grow up in the dark ... I told them that in the future they will talk about today like a joke.”

Overall, protestors were “politely ignored,” according to BBC News, and moviegoers had a good time. Misfir Al-Sibai, a 21-year-old Saudi moviegoer, said, “It was just beautiful to see people look so animated and happy. […]That was the best part of the evening."

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