Saudi Gazette A total of 230,000 tourists from Saudi Arabia reportedly visited the UAE in the summer of 2010 just to watch movies. In a country where theaters are non-existent, most people travel to nearby destinations like Bahrain and Dubai to watch the latest movies and spend much more money than they would have had it been locally available. Saudi Arabia may have banned the screening of movies, it still allows filmmakers to pursue studies and produce them. In 2003, Haifaa Al-Mansour, the first Saudi female filmmaker, introduced her seven-minute short film “Who?” and went on to produce “Women Without Shadows” and “Keif Al Hal” (How are you?), the first-ever big-budget Saudi feature film produced by Rotana Audio Visual, owned by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. However, due to the absence of cinema halls in the country, the films were screened in neighboring Gulf countries. Mohammed Isa, a 26-year-old Saudi pursuing his degree in filmmaking in Dubai, feels there should be at least an opportunity to showcase Saudi talent by holding a film festival like they do in the UAE, supporting and encouraging nationals in their talent in filmmaking. “It is so sad we cannot showcase our work to our own people and have to leave the country to prove ourselves.” He added that Ali F. Mostafa's “City of Life” (2009) was the first Emirati film to be shown across UAE cinemas, which made him feel proud of his Emirati brother, and he hopes he can realize the same dream in Saudi Arabia one day . According to BikyaMasr, a multiple award-winning news website with staff based in Egypt and across the globe, the Emirati full-length feature “Sea Shadows,” directed by Nawaf Al Jahani, received critical acclaim following its release in the UAE and will be screened in prestigious festivals in the US this year. “The film deals with the traditional themes of culture, religion and tradition – a commonplace in Gulf cinema – but it is considered to be the coming of age of Emirati and regional film,” the website read. Dana Dajani, a Jordanian-Palestinian actress living in Dubai, told Saudi Gazette she considered the cinema as a great place for young and old people alike to spend time. “Cinema brings the world to you, and can bring your ways to the world. I think films can be such a positive tool in bridging cultures. You are especially exposed to the art and lifestyles of other cultures through the non-commercial films that are screened at film festivals.” She continued saying that she met Saudi actress and filmmaker Ahd Kamel at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2010, “whom I admire for her drive and talent. She is of the likes of Nadine Labaki, and they are both women who are definitely setting a high bar for women in film all over the Middle East.” Rima Sawadi, a 27-year-old media student in Jeddah, said that Hollywood is blamed for spreading the wrong message and corrupting the Arab youth, but it also delivers a message and has changed the world through cinema. “I am not saying, ‘run movies and documentaries about anything negative or controversial,'” she clarified. However, one of the survey participant who was against cinemas in the Kingdom said, “I think it is good we don't have cinemas here, as the Western ideology would be catered to our audiences. As it teaches something so different from Islam, we don't want to encourage and spread that message,” said Zainab Shah, a British teacher in Jeddah of 23 years. In contrast, Hassan Rida, a young businessman told Saudi Gazette, “I don't understand why we don't have cinemas when we can easily segregate the audiences.” The 24-year-old living in Jeddah added that theaters would create more awareness on social issues apart from being an entertainment venue for families. “Let's face it. We don't have much to do but to eat and shop here. At least this way we can educate ourselves – be it through documentaries or short films with a social message. It even gives us a chance to spend quality entertainment time with our family or by simply getting a chance to admire cinematic brilliance.” Most readers argued that TV channels and satellite cable is available in most homes and questioned the absence of real theaters. Iman Danish, a 34-year-old Lebanese living in Dahran said, “We watch all the American channels and music channels in our homes, so why pretend we are not? Nowadays you cannot monitor everything and even if we are so restricted, the result is that thousands of people travel across borders just to watch movies. However, most youngsters do not have a budget to do so, hence they buy pirated DVDs. So why fake it? We will watch movies, one way or another.” Abdul Rahman Al-Shehri, a 42-year-old Saudi living in Jeddah, commented, “The sale of pirated movies and DVDs is so great in the Saudi market. If they allowed cinemas, I would never buy them and would pay to go watch a movie.” He added that as a businessman, he believed a big number of local entrepreneurs in the industry would love to invest in cinema theaters if given a chance. “We know people want to go enjoy their time, and this would be a great venue to gather with friends or family.” He believed it would also eradicate piracy, which is “probably very high in this country due the absence of theaters.” In addition, he thought, it would give the youth aged between 18 and 25, who make up 60 percent of the Saudi population, a way to de-stress and “not gather on the streets doing nothing.” Recently, online publications and voices on media forums deemed the age of “Arab Spring of Saudi cinema” had already begun, in light of the Arab Spring that has changed the political fundamentals of the Arab world. __
