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[RustyNails]

Cinema Greenlighted in Saudi Arabia

The green light has been given for establishing cinema houses in Saudi Arabia, following the reported agreement of four government entities.

A source said relevant authorities assigned to take this decision include the Ministry of Interior, the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), the General Commission for Audiovisual Media, and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia).

He said the SCTA and the audiovisual commission have a direct interest in the matter, while the other two are concerned with consultations and coordination.

The first people who introduced cinema to Saudi Arabia were foreigners working in Aramco (now Saudi Aramco), during the 1930s; in the 1990s they became available to Saudis at their sports clubs.

The issue of cinemas in Saudi Arabia resurfaced when a number of media sources published news that allowed the establishment of cinema houses according to Shariah rules, especially after some Saudi producers showed their movies outside Saudi Arabia, and some of them received a number of international awards.

Gulf countries receive large numbers of Saudis during the holiday seasons, achieving huge financial returns, which give private investors clear signs of the feasibility of achieving substantial financial returns. Those opposed to the establishment of cinema in the Kingdom say that Saudi society is a distinguished one, and its values and traditions do not allow such activities.

The film “Wadjda” by Saudi director Haifa Al-Mansour, which is the latest Saudi film, received three international awards during the 69th Venice Film Festival. It became the first Saudi film in the foreign language category to win the award in 2013.

Wadjda, produced by Rotana and Razer films and High Look, was written and directed by Haifa Mansour, which talks about a girl who lives in Riyadh and her journey to own a bicycle.

This is fresh off the heels of a recent report saying women will be allowed to drive and an all-female police force to be formed. You know what I think, I think King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz is about to die very soon. He should be in his 90's now (as one of the last remaining full-blooded sons of Ibn Saud). Like him or not, he has brought lot of reforms within KSA such as allowing women to run for office, allowing them to vote, removing some of the draconian requirements for expats, trying to curb the influence Vice and Virtue Promotion Commission, and trying to combat terrorism on his soil. He has a long way to go, but as someone who follows KSA closely, he is tenfold better than his predecessor King Fahd, and the word is that his successor (his brother) Crown Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz al Saud leans slightly more conservative.

Edit: I should point out that movie theaters in KSA were legel until the grand mosque seizure in 1979 forced the kingdom to go full conservative.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Certainly a step in the right direction.

And I think you may be on to something, OP.

 

[Mohonky]

Will women be allowed to go though?

 

[HeelPower]

Morals are decaying...wow..

 

[OJdaKiller]

Isn't this the same place that's now allowing women to drive? Fuck that..Place is going to hell with all their liberal ideas...There'll be single women in movie theaters all over the place...society is now broken.