IT seems almost pointless to highlight the irony of the Jeddah Film Festival and the Manhattan Film Academy seminar in filmmaking taking place in a city, not to mention an entire country, that has no movie theaters. Maybe someone knows something that we do not or they simply see the writing on the wall. Whatever the impetus, it is apparent that Saudis, just like people everywhere in the world, love movies, want to see movies in the environment in which they were intended to be seen and, as is only natural, want to make their own, as well. There are some trends in society that simply cannot be stopped. Just as women gaining the right to drive in Saudi Arabia appears ultimately to be inevitable, so does the appearance of movie theaters. Every country in the region has movie theaters. The UAE is taking serious steps towards developing its own industry and even Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest countries, is producing dozens of movies domestically every year. The immense wealth of the Kingdom and its tremendous natural resources have made it an important player on the world stage. Satellite TV is bringing uncensored international newscasts into Saudi living rooms along with movies that, although slightly censored for reasons of local sensibilities, display styles of living wholly different from our own. Such fare does have an influence on the culture here. After all, rap music and baseball caps worn backwards are not exactly indigenous to Saudi Arabia and married couples showing a modicum of affection in public is a relatively recent phenomenon in the Kingdom. We are, indeed, part of a global village whose global roots are truly in the cinema, primarily the American and Indian cinemas. But just as Americans no longer dominate the world of basketball, a sport they created but which has become popular internationally, they do not have a monopoly on the production of movies for worldwide consumption. And regional movie theaters do not have to be dominated by American films even if that is likely to be the case during the initial phase of opening theaters here. But one good argument for reopening movie theaters here would be the existence, albeit fledgling, of a domestic film industry. It would be easier for the guardians of society to accept American movies screening in a dark room if domestically-made films displaying domestic issues acted out by Saudi actors and produced and directed by Saudi personnel were playing alongside them. Movies are fun but by no means are they exclusively American. __
