Saudi Arabia to continue decades long cinema ban, despite imminent release of xXx 3

Attempts to bring an end to Saudi Arabia’s ban on cinemas have been dismissed by the country’s grand mufti.

Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh insisted during his weekly television programme that public cinemas will continue to be outlawed in Saudi Arabia, as they have been since the 1980s. They were closed because of the repeated objections of religious conservatives during the Islamic revival movement of the 1980s.

“Motion pictures may broadcast shameless, immoral, atheistic or rotten films. There is nothing good in song parties, for entertainment day and night, and opening of movie houses at all times is an invitation to mixing of sexes,” he remarked (via the Guardian).

It wasn’t all bad news, though, as the grand mufti offered the smallest of hopes by adding, “I hope those in charge of the entertainment authority are guided to turn it from bad to good and not to open doors to evil.”

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Entertainment Amr al-Madani had looked to start the conversation about reintroducing public cinemas in the country, suggesting it as part of the government’s cultural and economic reforms for Vision 2030.

Despite the obvious obstacles, the city of Dammam has held an annual five-day film festival over the last three years. They’ve able to circumvent the law by holding private screenings and a fourth will take place in February.

Since the turn of the millennium only 12 Saudi Arabian films have been released, the most successful of which was 2013’s ‘Wadjda’, which was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2014 BAFTA Awards. In 2016 ‘Barakah Meets Barakah’ premiered at the 66^th Berlin International Film Festival, and was entered for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89^th Academy Awards but wasn’t nominated.

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