Cinema back in Saudi
2005-10-17 12:23
Riyadh - Some 20 years after public screenings of films were banned, the first cinema will open next month in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, but showing only cartoons, a source from the firm handling the project said on Sunday.
The cinema will open for women and children at a Riyadh hotel at the Eid Al-Fitr feast at the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan on November 2 or 3, said the source who requested anonymity.
The source said the move was made possible following an agreement with Riyadh municipality.
The pan-Arab Saudi newspaper Al-Hayat said on Sunday that the 1 400-seat cinema will hold three one-hour shows to screen foreign cartoon films dubbed in Arabic every evening. It estimated that more than 50 000 people would visit the cinema during the two-week Eid break.
The paper said the project was a prelude to the start of real cinema screenings for all in Saudi Arabia, given that cafes in main cities already show films, sports games and video clips on large television sets.
Cinema was once shown in private clubs in Saudi Arabia until all public screenings were banned because they were considered against Islamic law in the early 1980s.
Saudi Arabia is the only country to have banned cinema houses in the Muslim conservative Arab Gulf region.