Films back for Saudis after ban of 35 years

SAUDI ARABIA: Cinemas are to open in Saudi Arabia for the first time in more than three decades as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman continues his efforts to ‘‘modernise and normalise’’ the world’s most conservative country.

The Ministry of Culture announced the lifting of the ban yesterday, although the move was long expected; so much so that construction companies building shopping centres around the kingdom have already been including cinemas in their plans.

‘‘Commercial cinemas will be allowed to operate as of early 2018, for the first time in more than 35 years,’’ a statement said.

Bans on women driving and working as shop assistants have been lifted without the mass backlash from cleric hardliners that some predicted. In the case of cinema the ban had already become largely outdated because of the spread of satellite TV channels that air Hollywood movies.

Haifaa al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia’s best-known female film director, said: ‘‘It’s amazing and exciting. We have a big indigenous population and market, and it’s an incredible place to make films. If we want a true civilisation we have to invest in the arts.’’

The authorities have announced a licensing board that is likely to impose the same sort of censorship as other Gulf countries. Even in relatively liberal Dubai, images of kissing are cut, while sex scenes and sensitive political themes are avoided altogether.

As with other recent social reforms, the decision is being promoted as an economic one; part of attempts to boost growth and find alternatives to the oil industry as a source of income. Unlikely as it seems, given the country’s recent past, entertainment and tourism have been highlighted as two promising areas in the crown prince’s ‘‘reform manifesto’’ known as Vision 2030.

Cinemas disappeared from Saudi Arabian streets in the early 1980s during a religious backlash against the westernisation that had accompanied the country’s rise as an oil-based, Americanbacked economy before and after World War II.

An Islamist uprising culminating in a takeover of the Great Mosque in Mecca in 1979, and the Islamic revolution in Iran the same year, frightened the Saudi royal family into giving much more say over social issues to hardline Salafi clerics. Cinemas, concerts, public music and many other aspects of normal social life were banned, with greater powers given to the religious police.

The crown prince has led an aggressive movement to reverse that trend since his father came to the throne in 2015. Conservative clerics have been forced to give their assent or risk losing their posts. –The Times