It is amazing to watch how fast Saudi culture is opening up. This week, Riyadh held a children's festival titled ‘The World and I'. The fact that it was the first festival dedicated to educating children through fun was an accomplishment in itself. Children were introduced to Japanese art of Origami, the art of folding paper, to the German culture through cartoons and to the Iranian culture through a very touching feature film. But what was amazing was the scene inside the movie theater at King Fahd Cultural Center where the festival was being held. Men and women sat in the same theater hall. Of course, men were at one side and the women and children were at another. But the fact that they were sitting in the same hall was a statement. The theater was the first of its kind, a government run cinema for airing educational, children movies to the public. When this theater first opened its doors to the public, it was for children and women only. Now it's for families. One can only see that the theater is doing a lot to introduce a cinema culture to Saudi society and get the public used to the idea of men and women sitting together in public. I can see many social issues left for society to decide when it's ready, such as having cinemas. The ban on public cinemas came in the 1980s and since then many have called for lifting this ban while others are in favor of the ban. The fact that the Ministry of Culture and Information, which runs King Fahd Cultural Center, is holding public movie screenings even if it's for children and allowing men and women to watch the same movie at the same hall is a step forward in getting the public used to the idea. What was also interesting was that in the Iranian movie based on the story of a brother and sister a scene with the family celebrating Ashora, a Shiite religious holiday, was not censored. Not only did the audience became emotionally attached to the poor innocent Iranian Shiite children of the movie, they also witnessed a Shiite religious celebration, which is unprecedented. I think it is good to talk and discuss change, and even debate why we want or don't want change to happen. The most effective way in changing a society is not through debate, but through introducing the idea quietly to people, and letting them come to terms with change themselves. * Suzan Zawawi is a Cross Cultural Consultant with an MA specialized in Cross Cultural Communication Share your cross cultural experience or send in your cultural questions to [email protected] __
