Saudi Arabia to reopen cinemas for first time in 35 years

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Saudi Arabia will allow cinemas to open for the first time in 35 years, in the latest sign of the gathering pace of social reform in the conservative kingdom.

Movie theatres are expected to begin showing films from March, said Awwad Alawwad, Saudi Arabia’s information and culture minister, who described the change as a “watershed moment in the development of the cultural economy”.

Cinemas have been illegal in Saudi Arabia since the early 1980s when Islamic strictures were tightened in response to the threat of growing fundamentalism in the kingdom.

The announcement on Monday is part of a wide-ranging reform programme being led by Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful crown prince, to overhaul the country’s economy, reduce reliance on hydrocarbons and introduce social reforms, such as the recent lifting of the ban on women driving.

Prince Mohammed has said he wants to revive moderate Islam in the kingdom, returning to the period before 1979, the year of the Islamic revolution in Iran and the deadly siege by Islamist extremists at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

The ruling al-Saud family responded to these threats by empowering hardline clerics to impose a stricter interpretation of Islamic principles to outflank rising extremism in the kingdom and abroad — a decision which is now acknowledged by Prince Mohammed as a mistake.

As well as allowing women to drive from June, the Saudi government is for the first time promoting concerts and cultural events to broaden entertainment options for the two-thirds of Saudi people under the age of 30.

At the same time, Riyadh is seeking to impose austerity measures on the population and convince the youth to forgo easy, well-paid state-sector jobs for more challenging roles in the private sector.

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Reopening cinemas is part of Prince Mohammed’s plans to boost domestic entertainment spending and stemming the outflow of money to more liberal Bahrain and Dubai, which are popular holiday destinations for Saudis seeking to relax.

The government anticipates 300 theatres showing movies will open by 2030, contributing $24bn to the economy and creating 30,000 jobs.

Some operators are said to have been preparing for months, building shell structures in anticipation of the announcement. Majid Al Futtaim, the Dubai-based shopping mall operator, said it would extend its VOX Cinema brand into Saudi Arabia.

However, the prospect of greater cultural liberalisation has unnerved Saudi Arabia’s powerful religious establishment, with Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, the country’s highest-ranking cleric, warning of cinemas’ “depravity”.

For the region’s film industry, the hope is that the reintroduction of movie theatres will allow the wider cultural scene to flourish.

Hisham Fageeh, the star and co-producer of Barakah meets Barakah, a Saudi-produced feature submitted as best foreign film at the 2016 Oscars, said: “If you don’t have a culture, others control your narrative.

“An organic, homegrown narrative is best — we need to tell our own stories, we don’t need other people telling our stories.”

Gianluca Chakra, founder of Front Row Filmed Entertainment, a regional film distributor, described the move as “very exciting” but questioned whether families would be segregated to separate men and women, and what films would be permitted.

“It remains to be seen how tough the censorship will be,” he said.