Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Cinema returns to Riyadh on Friday after 30 years
The Saudi capital of Riyadh witnessed on Friday a film show, the first of its kind since cinema was banned in the country three decades ago.
- By Abdul Rahman Shaheen, Correspondent
- Published: 18:36 June 6, 2009
- Image Credit:
Riyadh: The Saudi capital of Riyadh witnessed on Friday a film show, the first of its kind since cinema was banned in the country three decades ago.
The film 'Manahi', a comedy starring Saudi actor Fayez Al Maliki was screened at the King Fahd Cultural Centre to a huge audience. The show is an important turning point in Saudi culture and society.
Rotana, owned by the Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, is screening the film in Saudi Arabia. The film was previously shown in Jeddah and Taif, and achieved unprecedented success by attracting a total of 25,000 male viewers and 9,000 female viewers, although some Islamic radicals opposed and tried to prevent the screening.
The hero of the movie, Al Maliki, told Gulf News that he receives daily threats on phone from Islamic militants, but he commended the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and the role it plays for protection of Islamic values of Saudi society. .
Al Maliki, who is very popular figure at the Gulf and Arab world as a leading comedian in Saudi Arabia, said that the film revolves around naive Bedouin who falls for a financial scam on the stock market in a bid to get rich quickly.
Pointing out that besides him, there were seven Saudi actors in the film in addition to two actresses, Mona Wassef, from Syria, and Rimaz, from Saudi Arabia. Al Maliki was hopeful that the film would "attract a large number of viewers in the coming days."
"It is time to present to the Saudi film screens at local theatres rather than let them go to Bahrain, Egypt and other countries to watch movies," he said.
Al Maliki admitted that 'Manahi' film was screened privately earlier in Riyadh city. "We had already screened the movie last month, i in the Literary Club. The attendance was then limited to a selected group of writers, intellectuals and critics'', he said.
“But this is the first time the film wascommercially shown to the public. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has decided to donate the returns of the film to the cancer patients in the Kingdom", he added.
For his part, Ebrahim Baddy, the Public Relations and Media Director of Rotana Company, said in a statement to Gulf News that they have received official permission from the Emirate of Riyadh Region and the Ministry of Culture and Information.
He added that it was not necessary to get an approval from the Organisation for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
"We will continue to display the film in Riyadh three days a week, namely, Saturday, Monday and Thursday, for two sessions per day, and the company will extend the show times if required."
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal had said earlier that there was no doubt the era of cinema screenings in Saudi Arabia would come soon.
The Arabian Business magazine rated last week Fayez Al Maliki as the second at Saudi Arabian level and the tenth at the Arab world level in the list of the 100 most influential figures in the Arab world.
Al Maliki said he received an award in this connection from the Prince Faisal Bin Khalid, Governor of Asir, before the magazine published its rating.
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