Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 11-12-2017
Saudi Arabia has lifted a decades-long ban on cinemas, part of a series of social reforms by the powerful crown prince with support from his father King Salman that are shaking up the ultra-conservative kingdom.
It’s a stark reversal in a county where movie theatres were shut down in the 1980′s.
Many of Saudi Arabia’s clerics view Western movies and even Arabic films made in Egypt and Lebanon as sinful.
In a statement, the culture and information ministry says the government will begin licensing cinemas immediately.
“Commercial cinemas will be allowed to operate in the kingdom as of early 2018, for the first time in more than 35 years.”
Reviving cinemas would represent a paradigm shift in the kingdom, which is promoting entertainment as part of a sweeping reform plan dubbed “Vision 2030”, despite opposition from conservatives.
While Saudi Arabia’s highest-ranking cleric warned in January of the “depravity” of cinemas, saying they would corrupt morals, Saudi filmmakers have long argued that a ban on cinemas does not make sense in the age of YouTube.
Saudi films have been making waves abroad, using the internet to circumvent distribution channels and sometimes the stern gaze of state censors.
– AFP/AP
0 Comments